Inherit the Sky
by xCheshireCatfish
Summary: Fukuda gets involved with a girl that sigs up as Niizuma's third assistant. What will happen when he finds out she's Ches, the mangaka whose been beating him in every contest he entered in the past? Shinta Fukuda x OC.
1. Old Rivals

The romance will start around… Well, Bakuman 109? Because, this takes place around chapter 26? Wow ;A;. That's a huge gap. We'll see what'll happen, but I see a lot of time – skips up ahead! xD.

**I don't own Bakuman, but I do own Yui and this plot.**

* * *

"Are you kidding me? This is not okay, damn it!"

"F-Fukuda- san! Calm down!"

"Like Hell I will!"

"Fukuda-sensei! Sensei!"

"What?"

"Eh~. You'll beat him next time!"

"That's all you have to say?"

"This isn't like you, Fukuda-san… You've been beaten before, so why are you so upset now?"

_Some freakin' person named Ches. Who the Hell is this guy? He's starting to piss me off!_

The silvernette plopped down on his chair, lifting up the newest Jump magazine from the floor, where he left it earlier. Flipping through it, he got to the page where _Inherit the Sky _showed its debut. He scanned the title, and noticed there was a small paragraph about the mangaka, Ches:

_Ches lives along the beach and spends time on _Inherit the Sky_ while looking out on the shore line. Walking along the beach during sunset is common whenever Ches acquires writer's block._

Fukuda raised a silver brow. _Ches lives on a beach, huh?_ There were hundreds of beaches in Japan, but he must be close to meet with the _Jump_ Editorial Office, so it narrows the areas down quite a bit. He smirked to himself in amusement at the thought of being able to find this Ches. Whoever he was, he had one Hell of an imagination, and a whole lot of luck for his manga to win first place right off the bat. Something didn't seem right about the ordeal, but he didn't let it bother him; wasn't that much of a big deal.

"Not a big deal my ass!" Fukuda shouted, throwing the magazine across Eiji's studio. It smacked his editor, Yujiro Hattori, in the face and flopped to the floor, making him yelp and jump back.

Screw that thought, it _was_ a big deal. The teen angrily slid off his hat and ran his hands grimly into his long locks, tugging on the hairs in frustration. He vaguely remembered that pen name before, and not a moment later he realized this was the same person who beat him to first place years back in a manga contest. The title of said manga wasn't the same as _Inherit the Sky_, he knew, but for some reason it didn't want to come to him. Didn't matter what it was called, what mattered is that he was beaten by some rookie. Ches wasn't even considered a rookie, Fukuda thought of him as more of a _rookie_ rookie. _Goddamnit_. He was tired of this prick already.

"Maybe I'm taking it too far," he grumbled, sitting up and smoothing out his hair.

"I think Fukuda-sensei is, too," Niizuma grumbled, chewing on the end of his mechanical pencil. Fukuda paid no mind to what Niizuma was saying, instead locking his eyes onto his desk. Immediately he took back what he said once more, believing nothing was going too far in trying to pursue your dreams.

"F-Fukuda, it'll be alright. Just… Use this for motivation, you know? You're better than Ches," Nakai spoke up this time, though it seemed he was being hesitant. Who wouldn't be, though? Whenever Fukuda was angry, it was time to hide under the desks; Nakai would be doing just that if he could get himself to fit under there.

"Wait, so if _Inherit the Sky_ got first, then that means–"

That means Mashiro and Akito didn't make it, either.

_They'll just have to try again_. Fukuda sighed and looked at the clock dented into the wall. But with Ches coming in, there'll be more competition and motivation for them to strive in winning. So, in a way, it was a good thing Ches was coming into the game*. But why didn't _he_ think so?

"I need to get to my job," he murmured to nobody but himself, standing abruptly and heading for the door.

Yujiro checked the time and rose a bow, seeming confused as he called after the angry man, "but you still have an–"

The older man didn't have a chance to finish, since Fukuda had already slammed the front door._  
_

"Er-… I don't think Fukuda-sensei is all that happy," Niizuma squeaked, sitting with his knees up to his chest on the cushioned chair. He was peeked up of the back, pencil between his upper lip and nose. Nakai said nothing in response; only burying himself in adding speed lines to _Crow_.

"Well… Can't really blame him," Yujiro sighed, "third time Ches beat him, right? I guess I'd be pretty angry if the same person beat me three times in a row, too."

Niizuma rose a brow, tilting his head to the side an inch. It was more than three; had to be at least four or five. It'd been only a little while since he met Fukuda, though during that time they've shared quite a few stories. What Fukuda mostly talked about had wanted to beat a certain mangaka. He assumed Ches to be the one.

"So, what's so fresh about this Ches to make Fukuda act like that? I mean, he's always a bit moody, but today is different…"

It seemed that way to Nakai and Niizuma as well. Fukuda has always had a short fuse, at least in all the time the three of them have known him. And this was no sudden thing since Ches has been beating Fukuda for quite a while. At first it was just entering one-shots and the prize was having it run in _Jump_, along with the possibility of it becoming a series if good enough. Though in all the contests Ches has won and all the offers of their one-shots becoming series, not once has Ches accepted said offers. Niizuma found this the most strange, though didn't think much off it because it wasn't necessary to worry about someone else's business.

"Since… We're on the subject, what's _Inherit the Sky_ about, anyway?"

Yujiro looked over at Nakai and shrugged, "haven't read it yet, but I heard it was different from the rest. But, that's what they always say, you know?"

So they both looked at Niizuma, who was holding the same Jump magazine Fukuda had thrown at Yujiro earlier. Of course he already read it; he just wanted to read it again. There was an unusual seriousness to his tone: "It has to do with a demon who tries to overthrow the ruler of the Underworld, Hades. As punishment, he was sent to Earth as a soul with his powers sealed, and the only way to get them back was to obtain a new body," Niizuma paused to eye at the fpicture of the main character, "He found a human girl and made a contract with her. It's all quite interesting, actually; the story is heavily laced with Greek mythology."

There was only one thing the two said in union: "wow."

* * *

A soft ocean breeze drifted through the screen of a rather large window, replacing the hot air lingering in the small room. The windows were open, curtains were drawn back, and the sun was at the perfect position between the clouds to light up her room, so there was no need to have the lamps on. It was a lovely day, perfect to read, run a muck on the beach– or even better, draw.

This is exactly what a young lady was doing. She was perched up on a cushioned bench attached to the wall, just under the window so she'd be able to look out at the sea. It was a beautiful view, for her room to be facing the beach. She especially loved when the sky was the way it was now; cloudy with a chance of rain. To other people, it might be more on the gloomy side, but in her mind it was far from perfect. This sort of weather was when her creativity was at its best, and this is what she needed right now. Her work just got serialized, after all. She'd just gotten the news days after the new issue was scheduled to be published, and it thrilled her to know she had beaten Eiji Nizuma. He was one of the people whom she considered her rival, including a man named Shinta Fukuda, and two newcomers, Moritaka Mashiro and Akito Takagi. _Though, everyone in the manga industry should be looked at as a rival, should they not…?_

She shook her head, dismissing the idea. This woman was a thinker. She always thought before she spoke. There's always something going on in her head, whether it's a question or an answer to said question she had asked herself. These mental arguments with herself where common for her and it wasn't odd to hear them be said out loud once in a while. Challenging herself further is also what this young lady was made up of; multitasking especially. Her aunt had taught her the more she expands her skills and thinking, the more her creativity would grow.

That's why she wanted to work for Niizuma Eiji.

Frankly, he was a genius. Not just to her, but in general. His art was beautiful in her eyes and she wanted to see him make it alive while in the flesh. In person or on camera, it didn't matter, though it'd be better to see him draw while sitting next to him. _I can expand my mind that way, by working as an assistant whilst my own manga._

After adding the speed lines onto a storyboard she was working on, she set down her drawing pad, before sitting up and stretching her limbs. Crossing the polished wooden floors to get to her desk, she plugged in a purple CD player and pressed the 'play' button, Ai Otsuka's _Pretty Voice_ soon flowing out from the speakers. But ss soon as the chorus started, another song blended in. She could hear Dir en Grey's _Yokan _faintly coming from the corner of her room, somewhere near her bed. She headed over to it, moving her beloved sheep plush out of the way, and saw that her cell phone was glowing. Quickly she flipped it open, not bothering to read the caller ID. There was a deep voice on the other line, one she found to be rather familiar to her the moment he spoke.

"Hello? Is this Ches' Studio?"

"Yes, Ueda speaking. May I ask whose calling?"

"Hattori Akira, from Jump? I was told you wanted to set up an appointment."

Yui rose one of her eyebrows. She felt a bit bad that she had forgotten her editor's name, "Y-Yes, that's right, I'm sorry."

"No need to apologize. I'm free later tomorrow at five, if that's alright?"

"Tomorrow would be perfect; the sooner the better."

There was a pause on the other end of the line.

"Alright, wrote it down… If I may ask, Ueda-san, why the sudden appointment? There's still a week or so before needing to submit new chapters."

Another pause, though Yui was able to answer calmly and smoothly, "Finished early, just wanted to check up on a few details."

"Ah, perfectly understandable. If that's all, I'll see you at five."

A quick goodbye and she had hung up, flopping down on her bed. She let her phone rest on the bed sheets next to her as she brought hand up, running it through her short hair. Suddenly it seemed a little too hot in her room. The window was open, and there was a cool, oceanic breeze, though Yui herself felt overheated. So she stood, walking over to sit in her window, and with a sigh she let loose her ponytail for the wind to blow through her thin locks.

"Twenty-four hours until I request being Niizuma-san's assistant. I can do this."

* * *

:sighs in relief: that was more satisfying than the previous first chapter ~3~. I am very pleased.

***I**nherit **T**he **S**ky. :D


	2. The Meeting

Edit 5.10.11: rewrote this chapter so it made more sense.  
Edit 2.1.13: edited some details.

**Kebechet**: I took your suggestion and lowered the rating until I post the lemon scene, but that won't be for a while o3o. Thank you for the review! Maybe I should do that for my other stories-.. But there's a lot of cussing, so I don't think I will oAo. It seems suitable for this chapter, though.

**GreenEyedNeko**: Thank you for the story alert! I really appreciate it and I hope you like this chapter, too~.

**I don't own Bakuman, but I do own Yui and this story's plot. Thank you!**

* * *

A young woman stepped in front of Jump's editorial building, a backpack slung over her shoulder. Her height was average, five foot six with a slender build. Only a black tank – top and white jeans were in her attire, aside from a purple striped bandana covering the top of her head. Shoes were simple; stripped converse matching the color of her kerchief. Her strawberry blonde hair was in a tight ponytail, barely poking out from said cloth, while her bangs framed her heart shaped face. She strode in with confidence, back erect and her head held high.

"May I help you?"

She looked at the woman at the desk and smiled at her, "Good morning. My name is Ueda Yui and I have an appointment with Hattori-san. I spoke with him on the phone yesterday."

"One moment, please."

The woman at the desk picked up her phone and pressed a button, calling _Jump_'s editorial office just above them. It didn't take long for him to answer, as not a minute later the phone was put back in place. "Please wait in booth thirteen. He'll be with you shortly."

Yui bowed slightly as thanks and made her way to the booth she was assigned to, noticing all the colored posters of various manga as she went. They almost covered the length of the entire wall and there were mainly only popular manga taped up, such as _Naruto_, _Bleach_ and _One Piece._ One poster of _Bleach_ had caught her eye in particular and it made her smile cheerily._ Ahh!_ _Orihime! _Orihime Inoue was on this one, though Ichigo Kurosaki was the main focus of the poster. Orihime was most likely Yui's favorite female character in the manga world. Most of her merchandise consisted of her, examples being plushies and being on some of her shirts. Even her cellphone charm was a chibi Orihime, dressed in her Hueco Mundo attire. Seeing her beloved character made Yui's nerves settle, even just a little.

When she arrived at number thirteen she went inside, standing instead of sitting. Her backpack was dropped at her feet as she let her head fall back against the wall. Looking up at the ceiling, Yui let out a long sigh. _Being so nervous about this sort of thing is pathetic, isn't it? This is getting too hard and mixed up for how easy it's supposed to be… I should've waited until _Inherit the Sky_ had published a couple more chapters. No, it has to be as soon as this. That's what I decided on, so I can't go back right now. There's no reason for them to say no. But, how do I explain why I want to work for –_

"Ueda-san?"

It wasn't even five minutes when she heard her name being called. Her thinking was disrupted by a man entering the booth. He had orange brown hair that was in an a fro shaped style, though wasn't a complete circle around his head. He looked like a normal adult and not an editor at all. Black eyes were shining brightly as he smiled to her, holding out his hand. "I'm Yujiro Hattori. Apparently I have an appointment with you..?"

Yui blinked and tilted her head to the side, shaking his hand even though she was confused. "Not Hattori Akira?"

Yujiro matched her expression for a split second, before his cheeks reddened in embarrassment. His palms suddenly felt sweaty, to which he reacted to by releasing her hand rather quickly. "Oh, so that's why I didn't remember this meeting! I thought they called for me, but they must have called Akira… That's too bad, though… I'd of loved having an appointment with you…"

When he trailed off in his slurred sentence, Yui simply stood there awkwardly. _Am I being hit on by a man twice my age..? No, he doesn't look in his thirties... Eh, looks can be deceiving, can't they?_

"I… Didn't mean to cause any confusion, I'm sure you had a better thing to do than meet a pretend client."

"Oh, no, no! It's not your fault; I should've been listening better! Come with me so I can take you to Akira!" Yujiro led Yui to an elevator, letting her in first as a gentleman would have. He pressed the 'up' button as the doors closed, then pulled a card out from his pocket. "Put this on so they'll let you in," he smiled to her and handed the card over. She obeyed and put the lanyard around her neck.

The rest of the short elevator ride was in silence, save for Yujiro's nervous whistling. Yui couldn't help but chuckle, making the editor's eyes light up in glee. _S-She laughed! Oh, she's so cute; I wonder how old she is? I've never seen her here before... She must be a Mangaka. I wouldn't mind editing another manga if it was hers!_

He hadn't noticed the doors open and Yui was now staring at him, wondering what he was so deep in thought about. Noise filled her ears, since they were now exposed to the official editing office of _Weekly Shōnen Jump_ Magazine. She raised a brow, saying something the older man didn't quite catch. Or rather, wasn't paying attention to anything but his inner fan – boy that reserved his thoughts.

So she said it a bit louder, "Hattori-san? We're here."

Upon snapping up to reality, Yujiro coughed in his fist and held out his arm, gesturing for her to exit the elevator first. Hesitantly she did so, before immediately swerving to the right and towards what she hoped to be the Chief's desk.

_She sounds so cute saying my name!_ A blush rose to his face once again, _I need to ask for her_- _huh? Where is she?_ He looked at the spot Yui stood moments ago, only to notice that it was now empty. It didn't take him a second to see the bright haired female was now with the Hattori she had an appointment with. A twinge of jealousy was the emotion he could feel bubbling up.

"Yujiro?"

Once again Yujiro found himself turning around and seeing something he didn't expect; a blur of silver was what his eyes were met with.

"Fukuda? Why are you here?"

Shinta Fukuda stood behind him, arms crossed with a scowl upon his features. He was clearly annoyed from what Yujiro could tell. _He's still probably upset about his lost to _Inherit the Sky_._

"I came by to investigate something," he scowled, before quickly changing the subject, "What's with that expression, huh? You look like a love struck puppy all of a sudden." There was annoyance on the teen's tongue, which was now sticking out it disgust. "Who is it this time, a prostitute?"

"Y-You be quiet and respect your elders!" Yujiro was stuttering, "a-and she is not a p-prostitute! She's a beautiful young lady!"

Fukuda was smirking now, a smug one that taunted the editor's sudden compassion. He leaned forward, hands on his hips now.

"Then let me see her, if she's real."

"She's very real, and," he spun around and pointed a finger in the air, "right over –..! There?"

Instead of the beautiful woman Yujiro had seen not ten seconds ago, there was an empty sack of air where she once had been. He scanned the office, but it was no use; she was nowhere in their sights.

"Ha, that's what I thought. If you're done, I'm heading to my job, now."

"N-No! She was here!'

Fukuda rolled his eyes, stepping into the elevator, "whatever you say!"

Akira and Yui had just sat down at a table, not disappearing at all. They were also in front of Yujiro, only a little ways away and blocked by a box sitting atop of a shelf.

"I'm sorry about the mix up. Ueda-san, was it?"

Akira held out his hand to shake hers, and raised his eyebrow to match the silent question. Yui reached out and cupped her hand in his, offering a friendly handshake.

"Yes, that's me. And it wasn't a problem at all, so please don't worry about it."

They let go of each others hands and Yui slipped off her backpack, setting it in her lap so she could retrieve a thin manila folder. She set it on the table and slid it over to him, "this is the final draft for chapter two and three. Ches asked me to bring them to you."

"You're not Ches?"

Well, that was unexpected.

The young girl scratched at the back of her neck, shaking her head a little too quickly. _I am._ "Um… No, I'm his editor. He didn't want to leave his desk. I apologize for not clearing that up over the phone."

"Ah, well… I see. Thank you for delivering these, then."

"N-No problem," her voice trailed off when he started reading the chapters.

Normally she didn't lie, but it was important to do so at this point. If anyone knew who she was, they'd judge her. That's what had happened to her aunt's friend, who was also a mangaka. She was doing a shōnen manga, and many people found it odd that she hadn't been doing shōjo. It was one of the reasons the woman had retired at such a young age. Yui didn't want this time happen to her, for her sex to be a problem when your dreams were being followed. Sadly people thought otherwise, even if they didn't mean to.

Nevertheless, her lie was simple: She, Ueda Yui, was Ches' assistant. She wanted to work for Eiji Niizuma and would have a hard time in asking if the people of _Jump_ knew a mangaka wanted to work for another mangaka. This was a far better approach.

_Why do I feel like this is a life or death situation? My heart won't stop racing…_

Yui took in a deep breath, trying to act as if she wasn't panicking. There wasn't anything to panic about anyway, however, as she was already serialized. A bead of sweat rolled down her temple and to her eyebrow until she had rubbed it off with the back of her hand.

"These are interesting."

She was both glad and nervous when he had said that. "H-How so?"

He was still reading the last five pages before he spoke again, setting the folder down while looking up at her. "A good kind of interesting, I mean. The ending especially, because it's a cliffhanger; it shows suspension."

_That's what I thought, too._ "That's what Ches thought, too."

"The middle is sort of weak, though. I think the best parts are the beginning and end. Would you mind telling Ches all this when you get back?"

_Why is he telling me this now? _She nodded frantically, taking in every word, "of course I will, yes."

"There needs to be more thoughts, more inner emotional reactions to what's going on. There's plenty of action, and that's perfect, but the reader's might not know exactly what's happening with just that. The character can think it, too. It doesn't have to be said out loud."

_But I added in some thought bubbles… He wants me to add more? Shouldn't the readers be the judges now, anyway? _Unbeknownst to Yui, she was giving off a quizzical look that held both curiosity and confusion. Akira noticed this and instantly withdrew.

"Oh, I'm… Forgive me; I shouldn't be doing this to a manga that's been serialized. You aren't even Ches, and here I am judging his work in front of his assistant." Of course he wouldn't have said such a thing if he knew she really was the actual artist, but it'd just have to be that way for quite a while; Yui decided a long time ago.

It was as if he had read her mind.

"Oh, no, actually, Hattori-san…"

Her eyes went from a bright purple to dull lavender, and she bit into her lip, a foreign feeling finding its way to her gut and eating her from the inside out. This was it, the time where she needed to say what she wanted to say; the reason why she wanted to set a meeting up with him in the first place. She shifted in her seat, taking a glance around the environment around her. Everyone wasn't paying attention, so why did she feel as if she was in the spotlight?

"Ueda-san?"

She actually had to force herself to start talking, "I-.. I've talked it over with Ches, and… He enjoys my company, though.." She coughed and patted her chest lightly with the side of her fist, feeling her heart beat vigorously. It came as a surprise to her that Hattori wasn't able to hear the erratic noise; she sure as Hell could. _Say it, say it, just say it… The worst thing he could say is no. Still, he shouldn't be the one to decide upon it. It should be Niizuma, or his editor. Not mine._

She took in a long, deep breath.

"Ches agreed that I should be Niizuma's assistant for a bit so that I can expand my practice, my skills and art style. There's another month until the need of _Inherit the Sky_'s third chapter, so if I'm Niizuma's assistant, or anyone else's, I'll be able to adapt, you see? But Ches specifically wanted Niizuma for this. I'll be able to get a feel on how other mangaka work and I'll be more helpful, and anyway, he can get by on his own, after all, since this is the first time he's ever had an editor." Yui took another breath once she was finished, panting from the lack of air to her lungs. His expression made her fear of him saying no perk up, and she was beginning to think it was a bad idea to bring the question up in the first place.

"I see what you mean, but," _oh, God, here it comes_, "Niizuma already has two assistants. Not that they don't need your skills, but– "

"OF COURSE, UEDA-CHAN!"

Suddenly a loud bang made the both of them flinch, and a new voice rose up and to the conversation. It was more cheery and full of pride than the two of them put together. Yui and Hattori were shocked out of their minds to see Yujiro hovering over them by standing on a chair, rays of enlightenment radiating all around him. Tears of what assumed to be joy was cascading like waterfalls down his face. He looked as if he hit the jackpot in a candy store. There was a long pause that had swept over the whole office, everyone having their eyes on the disrespectful man. Time seemed to stand still at the awkward moment that had just occurred, and a loud ticking could be heard on the overhead clock.

Yui was the first to say something after his dramatic entrance, once everyone went back to what they had been doing beforehand. Yujiro's sudden agreement made her more confident in the matter. She blinked and looked over to her editor, voice a bit higher in pitch, "So, I… I'll be working for Niizuma? Ches will… He'll do just fine without me."

Hattori opened his mouth to speak, but Yujiro didn't give him a chance to. In a second the other Hattori was long gone, Yui having no choice but to follow in pursuit; her arm being locked under his. They barely were able to avoid the other editors and staff members, before getting to the elevator for the second time that day.

"Fukuda and Nakai will be glad to know that there is another person joining our team! Niizuma can be difficult at times, so with an extra person it should all be easy to get the work done!"

Yui had her eyes wide on how fast he was able to talk, "WH-who?"

He didn't answer her, only speed walking out of the elevator when reaching the bottom floor, holding Yui's wrist loosely all the way. Outside of the building now, he was fumbling with his keys, trying to find the right one without looking like an idiot. "I hope you don't mind going over and working right away. Since the month is almost over, you might not have to do a lot after all, but it's always good to meet and greet, right?"

All she could do at this point was nod and smile, which is exactly what she did. He found his car and opened the door for her, though she hesitated before getting in. At first she didn't feel comfortable in letting him drive her, but by how happy he seemed kept her quiet as they drove out of the parking lot. She buckled her seat belt and hugged her backpack. Once they hit the street, she silently glanced out the window. The sky was beginning to_  
_darken, signaling the start of a sunset. _I get to work for Eiji Niizuma. I wonder what he's like?_

* * *

"CAW! BZZT! VREE, WHOOSH!"

Instrumental music was blaring out from the speakers, thought it wasn't loud enough for the other neighbors to complain. Only one person was in the room listening: Eiji Niizuma, to be exact. His two editors had been dismissed for the day since he had started on the next chapters so early. He was scribbling his was across a large sheet of paper, curving his hand to guide the lead into different shapes and sizes. Once the final line was connected, he hopped up and grabbed the sheet, placing it on the floor with his arms held out far in front of him.

"Uwah! Perfection!"

He knelt down with his fingers curled into circles around his eyes, feet spread apart as he looked at the other various drawings sprawled about the floor.

"Finally I'm finished, finished!"

Eiji pounced back on his chair and stretched his limbs out wide, feeling his spine and shoulders crack. He looked up at the ceiling in pure thought, body slumping in his big chair. _I wonder how Mashiro-senpai is doing on his manga? And does he know about this new mangaka who beat him in this week's jump? Fukuda-senpai was pretty angry about it… Ches, the Cheshire Cat, huh? His manga was good; I'd like to work with him one day. HE should be my rival, too._

A rush of an 'idea' hit him like a truck, and soon Eiji was off drawing again, although it wasn't his beloved _Crow_. It was a female with a male demonic spirit next to her. The curve of his face was drawn first, followed by his animalistic scowl and curved horns. Shading in the dark snake-like eyes, Niizuma moved on to his torso, ripped clothing and tight pants being his attire for now. Spiked hair was next, and in five minutes the demon was finished. Next was the girl, her soft features coming to life upon the paper itself. Her hair was short, stopping at her chin while a spiked ponytail stuck out from the right side, looking like an open paper fan. The pencil lines stopped as Eiji thought about what clothing to put her in. He frowned and leaned back, before sitting upright and leaning over while he sat on his knees. Then the lines continued: a simple short sleeved polka dot dress was what he decided on letting her wear.

"Sktch, sktch, sktch," he mimicked the sound of the lead being scraped across the paper. "No, no, erase, erase!"

The dress was soon gone, and was replaced with a more average looking one; stripped with a collar. He was about to add a bow, when he was interrupted by the sound of keys unlocking the door. Said door opened, and the familiar voice of Yujiro filled his ears over the music.

"Niizuma! I brought another editor!"

The bow was added to the female drawing and her dress was shaded before Eiji decided to turn around in the chair. And when he did so, his chocolate brown eyes where met with a pair of flourished lavender ones.

* * *

Why is the plot more confusing than it should be? =A=

Yui Ueda wants to work for Eiji Niizuma, because she admires his art and wants to expand hers. But her own manga, _Inherit the Sky_, has just been serialized, and there's not a chance the Jump editors will accept her request. So, she comes up with a lie: she is not Ches, but his assistant.

I know it's just that, but my head hurts every time I go to write a new chapter. Maybe it's because of all the deadlines, what they do before and after serialization, etc.


	3. Panties

**Kebechet**: It's alright, you weren't rambling xD. Hatsuharu? He's from Fruits Basket, if you haven't looked him up already xD. He pretty much has a split personality, called Black Haru. I think he's bisexual o3o. Yes! Thank you for your review, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter~ ;D

**Beleg Ohtar**: You're captured? *O* I'm so glad! I hope it's as interesting to other people as it is to you xD. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and thank you for the review!

There will be a borderline PG scene in her, but nothing sexual or anything. Just a… Accidental mishap xD Haha.

**I do not own Bakuman; only Yui and this plot.**

* * *

"Ueda-san can use the shower over there, if needed! And clean her clothes! Put them on the desk! When they're aired out I shall put them on the door! Stinky~!"

And just like that, he was gone. She didn't even have a chance to question why she needs to stay at his studio or shower in the first place. Maybe it was due to the sweat from being dragged around so suddenly. Aside from that, shouldn't she go home and come back tomorrow? Yujiro had said that she wouldn't have to do much. And to add to it, why weren't the other editors here as well? They could've gone to go and get some things, so it wasn't best to judge. As if meeting Niizuma himself wasn't weird enough, now she had to spend the night at his studio, alone? Niizuma seemed comfortable about the ordeal, though Yui, on the other hand, wasn't so sure about it. Plus her sketchpad and pencils were back at her house, and using someone else's utensils was something she couldn't do for professional work.

No, she didn't need them; at least she didn't think that she did. Not her sketchpad anyway. She had to remind herself she was dropped down to an assistant and –… Scratch that, she needed her whole package all together, for she didn't know what they were going to assign her to work on. And since she had taken the train, Yujiro was going to have to drive her back down. Taking the subway at this time of night wasn't considered safe, especially since she was a young woman.

Since she was standing in the middle of the room alone (Yujiro had said his farewells and told the two he'd stop by in the morning), Yui took the time to roll over what had happened in the period of an hour. First, she had gone down to meet Akira at their scheduled appointment. Alright, check, that part was clear to her. Second, as they were discussing her, _Ches', _final draft, she'd brought up wanting to become Niizuma's assistant. Why? This was a completely different subject than the original matter, so it was pushed aside for the time being. The next thing she knew was hearing Yujiro's voice of approval and being dragged out from the table her and Akira were sitting at. And finally, Yujiro drove her to the studio without any words on the way.

Or was he saying something about her staying the night? Yui couldn't remember.

She was dragged to where she was standing, without her pencils, without her sketch pad, and without a change of clothes. All she had was her cellphone and the attire on her back, along with her bag. Yui sighed and slumped her shoulders, rubbing her neck in a stressful manner. Oh, yes, she knew this was going to be an interesting experience, working with Niizuma Eiji. But somehow she didn't feel as upset as she should have been.

Even with the lack of her things, she felt it was an experience she was looking forward to. Maybe some thrills and odd situations would get her butt into gear and rid the enemy know as Writer's Block.

"But it is a nice place for a studio," she murmured, taking a three hundred and sixty degree look at the little office she'd be sharing with three other people.

Three other people? That ment she had to meet two more. The thought made her cringe. She'd always been the nervous type when having to be introduced to strangers even though things ended up smoothly. Hopefully it'd be a casual meet and greet, no hand shakes and formal speaking would make it much easier on her part. Because when it was those types of meetings, she'd find herself stuttering and blushing like a love struck schoolgirl. Those weren't good for first impressions, and to her, everything was about first impressions. With this being said, Yui Ueda wasn't even close to being antisocial. Maybe she did lack some social common sense, but nothing close to being mentally withdrawn from having a conversation with peers. She was just a turtle needing to come out of her shell.

Her little self tour made her wind up in front of Niizuma's personal desk, where he'd been drawing his beloved _Crow_. There were pens and papers scattered all about the surface, some papers crumbled up while others just laid there, hanging of the edge of the desk. She scrunched her nose in slight disgust. _Is _this_ how he draws?_ Seeing part of a Hershey's wrapper told her that she'd answer her own question. Her desk would never look like this, as it was always clean, but not always spotless. Only once a month did she do a deep scrub cleaning, but it was rarely for her room/studio.

Regardless, she grabbed the trash and wadded it up, before looking around to find a trash bin of some kind. There was a small one by another desk, so she went over to throw it away. But then something caught her eye; one of the crumpled papers that was next to the trash bin. Wordlessly she bent down to take a look, unwrapping the paper and looking at what drawing he decided to throw away since there wasn't anything else there.

What she saw had certainly made her heart stop.

"Niizuma-san… This is…" she trailed off, not knowing what to say.

Niizuma Eiji was drawing _Inherit the Sky_. There the two main characters were; the demon and human girl, standing side by side. How he drew them was so… Perfect? No, if they were perfect then why would he cross them out?

"Ueda-san! Ueda-san, get in the shower already!"

The sudden voice of Niizuma made her flinch, and she quickly stuffed the crinkled paper in the trash. "Y-yes! I'm sorry!"

The shower head was switched on, cold water spurting out onto the tile. Yui stepped in, hanging the towel over the rail of the shower curtain. Once she shut the curtain, she seated herself to the floor, bringing knees up to hug them and tuck her head away so water wouldn't get to her eyes. Normally she felt uncomfortable using someone's shower, but she was starting to smell and didn't feel like going all the way back to her home just to get clean. Not that there was anything wrong with his shower as it was actually nicer than hers, but it lacked the oceanic scent she came to love. Still, she didn't complain about it. At least she'd get clean, she'd be happy.

_There are two more people I have to meet… Just two more…_

Yui was very shy, and got overwhelmed when meeting a group of people all at once. This was why she only had few friends in grade school since she afraid that she wouldn't make off a good first impression. In her mindset, as long as she didn't meet new people, first impressions wouldn't be made, therefore she wouldn't make a fool of herself. It was too late to tell her that 4th graders didn't care about first appointments, but thankfully Yui was a bit older now, and understood more about the subject. Her shyness was all but grown out, though.

"It'll be fine," she grumbled, scrubbing off some stray dirt from her arm. "I hope…"

* * *

"Damn it, damn it," Fukuda snarled, crossing the street once the light turned green, motorcycle revving. "Stupid Yujiro. The Hell does he want this time?"

_Beep, beep._

He raised a brow and took out his phone, flipping in open and bringing it up eyelevel despite being on the road.

_**Sent by **_**Yujiro **_**at 7:22PM.**_

_Fukuda, Fukuda! U back at studio yet?_

The teen could feel his eyebrow twitch, and with a roll of his eyes shut the phone, before stuffing it back into his jacket pocket. Damn Yujiro needed to leave him the Hell alone; he'd get there when he'd get there. _Why the Hell does he need me there, anyway?_

When Fukuda was on his way back to his place, he had gotten a call from a rather excited Yujiro. He was saying something or other about something – or someone? – new showing up at Niizuma's place and that he needed to come over right away. He'd hung up with the man before he found out what was there, so he'd no idea what was to be expected.

_Maybe I should ask him again… No, then he'd keep bothering me. Stupid man, I could be working on _Kiyoshi Knight _right now!_

His phone beeped again, but it went unnoticed by the silvernette as a large bus passed by at the same moment. Not that he wanted to answer Yujiro in the first place, but he was more concentrated on what he'd walk into at the studio. Maybe a new editor? No, two was more than enough for a genius like Niizuma. Even when Mashiro came by he had thought the same. Speaking of thoughts, he found himself drifting back to the incident happening that morning.

Ches and Fukuda had been going at it from the start, and contest after contest, he'd always get beaten by that brat. It didn't matter if neither of them won first place, his name was always under that damned Ches'. It set his blood aflame; one day he'd beat the bastard, no matter what cost. And if he happened to meet him down the road, well-… He'd have no control of his built up rage then. It was a serious blow to his ego, getting beaten by a rookie probably years younger. Though the more he thought about it, it was probably Ches' fault he'd been working so hard in getting his manga published. So, in a way, it was all thanks to–

_Scratch that._

Fukuda was at the front door of the studio now, having parked his motorcycle down below. With an agitated sigh he jiggled the handle, but the door didn't budge. A roll of his eyes and he was shoving a hand in his back pocket, pulling out a key. Yujiro was really running his patience thin this time around. After jamming the key into the keyhole, something he didn't notice, he kicked the door open, snarling, "Oi! Why lock the door if you know I'm coming over?"

What he was met with was certainly not Yujiro Hattori, nor Niizuma. Not even Nakai; it was someone he'd never seen before.

* * *

Yui sighed and turned off the water once she had rinsed off, drawing back the curtain to reveal a thin coat of steam. She reached for the towel hanging on the metal rack of the shower, wrapping it around her thin form before stepping out. Now that she was clean, she surely could ask Niizuma why this was happening, or even call Yujiro to take a trip back to her house. Spending the night was no problem, but after meeting someone it seemed awkward for her to stay over; being in a boy's house was certainly part of the uncomfortable feeling she was having.

_It's not his house, though... Just a studio. I shouldn't feel this awkward about it. But I'll be all alone here.  
_

When she glanced over to the counter, she remembered she'd have to wear a robe for now until her clothes were washed. According to the brunette, her clothes were ripe and smelt like sweat, so he asked her to leave them outside the door so he could clean them for her. Yui tried to protest, and ask to take a trip back to her place, but Niizuma didn't seem to be listening. He had mumbled something about the time, and not being able to drive, so there wasn't any transport for her. Yujiro could've driven her, but the young genius had sauntered off into the depths of his bedroom before Yui said anything about it.

Drying off herself, and getting rid of the excess water in her hair, Yui discarded the towel in exchange for the simple cotton robe Niizuma had left her. She eyed at it before sliding it onto her shoulders, furrowing her brow when the front wouldn't close right away.

"It's… Too small," a deep blush coated her cheeks when she saw how short the bottom stopped; barely covering her rear. Yui silently thanked herself for having the breasts she had now, otherwise there was no way the stupid thing would close. It was still tight around her, but at least it covered her more modest areas. Plus she just needed it to peek into the studio to get her clothes, so it wasn't like she was going to wear it to bed. No, she'd wear her normal clothing when she went to sleep. There wasn't any way she'd borrow pajamas from a younger boy, even if it was by a couple years. She was considered an adult, Niizuma a teenager; there were boundaries one shouldn't cross.

Opening the door to the bathroom, Yui felt a cool breeze tickle against her skin. She suppressed a shiver and scanned the room, not spotting her clothes near arms length like she expected them to be. She really had to get out of the bathroom to get her clothes; fabulous. With a groan and the roll of her lavender eyes, she stepped out and opened the door some more, finally seeing them folded neatly on one of the desks. Before even thinking to fully expose herself in the undersized robe, Yui looked to the left, then to the right, in search of Niizuma. Seeing the other doors shut comforted her enough to assume he was in one of the spare rooms, probably getting her bed ready.

Yui swallowed thickly and stepped out of the bathroom, briskly walking toward her folded clothes. She set a hand on her tanktop and unfolded it, looking down at it before smelling the fabric. It smelt fresh despite how much sweat must have been drenched in them. A smile found its way to Yui's lips; he really had cleaned them for her. For an odd reason it make her glad to know how kind Niizuma really was, to wash a strangers clothes after sweat had encoded them. Even though he didn't technically wash them, just set them outside to air out. It was still a very nice gesture on his part.

There was a sound behind her, making Yui tense. The tanktop was held tightly against her chest as her heart started to race; was there someone at the door? She froze, completely still as she turned, looking over her shoulder to the front of the studio. Her eyes stopped at the handle, and they widened as she saw the lock slowly turn.

The door opened, and a blur of silver and white met her eyes, along with a pair of grey orbs. A young man entered the studio, still looking down as he put the keys back into his jacket pocket.

"Oi! Why lock the door if you know I'm coming over?"

When the teen looked up finally, all his annoyance and anger was swept away, replaced with shock and surprise. Yui stood in the middle of the studio, still damp and wet from her shower, in nothing but a short, skin tight bath robe with her back toward the boy. Her face instantly heated up, and soon she felt as if she was back in the steam – filled bathroom.

The silver-haired teen was also red as he stepped back into the hall, eyes wide. He was stuttering on his words, trying to look anywhere but at the bare woman feet away from him. "I-!"

He didn't even have time to say a word; luckily, as Yui let out a shout, bolting to the bathroom faster than either of them could blink. She dropped her tank and let her clothes tumble off the side of the desk, without a care in the world, as she slammed the door and fumbled for the lock as if a murderer had just entered the building. Fukuda just stood there, not noticing the small stream of blood trickle from his nose. He let out a shuttering breath, glancing from where Yui was to where she fled, jaw still slack from the scene. Shutting the door with his foot absentmindedly, he walked into the studio and looked down at her clothes. When he looked back at the bathroom door, he opened his mouth to speak but only closed it again before glancing where Niizuma's break room door was located.

_Is __**she**__ was Yujiro was talking about? The Hell?!_

Fukuda slapped a hand over his face, taking a deep breath and feeling how warm his face was. _Who knew Niizuma actually had a girl over, naked at that..!_

Yui had her back against the bathroom door, slumped with a hand over her racing heart. She was panting, eyes still wide and face still burnt in embarrassment. _Who the Hell was that and why is he here?! Did Yujiro call him, or is he Niizuma's brother? He saw me naked!_

As if it'd help the situation, Yui tried to retie the small belt around her waist, feeling the fabric only tightening more against her skin. She overlapped the robe over again, tightening the opening to her chest tightly in her hands. _No, I'm dressed, but only barely! He must think I'm with Niizuma!_

"O-Oi, is… Niizuma in there?"

She hadn't expected the boy to speak and flinched when he did so. It took her a moment to answer, a couple tries at that, though her voice was still shaken.

"N-No! Of course not!"

Fukuda frowned slightly, looking back to scan the room again. Niizuma has to be here, he thought, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. The only place the young boy could be was in the break room, but Fukuda didn't want to think about what he was doing in there. Aside from that, what was he supposed to do with a naked girl in the other room? There'd never been a girl in Niizuma's studio regardless, so what else could the teenager think at this point? Just then he heard some sort of mumbling from Yui's place against the door. He furrowed his brows and looked back toward the door.

"What?"

Yui sounded more embarrassed in this statement than she had before, even though she had cleared her throat numerous times. Her voice was hoarse, "c-can I… C-could you get my clothes… P-please?"

Fukuda's face deepened the blemished color red, causing the poor boy to choke on his own saliva at her question. Giving a girl her clothes after a shower wasn't something that happened to him every day. Fukuda admitted to himself that this situation would occur eventually when he had a girlfriend, but nonetheless it was still pretty damn humiliating. For Yui, at least. The poor girl was probably having a heart attack in that bathroom. The way she sounded sure had implied it.

"Uh… Sure," the silvernette called back, gritting his teeth and going over to where her clothes were piled over. He squatted down in front of them and took hold of her white jeans, reaching up to set them back over the desk where they had been before. A small piece of clothing fell out from her pants, and Fukuda scrunched his eyebrows, reaching to pick them up. When he fanned them out with his hand, the blood from his nose was spilling again, and he could feel it this time.

_P-Panties?_

The small garment was white with bright pink lace, baby sheep imprinted all over in a repeated pattern. A little bow was at the front, a pink stripe coming down from both of the legs. Fukuda couldn't help but stare. Drawing panties and panty shots in _Kiyoshi Knight_ was one thing, but feeling them was another entirely. He went to cover his nose, pinching the front at an attempt to stop the blood flow.

"They're so tiny–"

"Ueda-san! Ueda-san!"

The other door of the studio suddenly slammed open, Niizuma popping out from the inside. He was holding what looked to be inking pens, and he was holding them out in the spaces between his fingers for defense.

"I heard you scream! Is everything alri-.. Fukuda-sensei?"

Fukuda widened his eyes and snapped his head up, gawking at the look on Niizuma's face, who was clearly staring at what he was holding in his hand. The boy was perplexed, certainly, with his eyes as round as saucers.

"Fukuda-sensei… Why are you holding Ueda-san's panties?"

* * *

Fjksdhgjklsdfgh it took this long to freaking write it.

I had about half of this chapter written out, but just couldn't think of how to word the rest.

Hopefully this is to everyone's liking~.


	4. Fresh Start

**Noface**, **StudioGhibliGirl**, **Mayacompany**: Thank you! Here's the fourth chapter! ;D

**Minteanon**: d'aww! Thank you so much! I'm glad you enjoy this story as much as you do, and hope you like this chapter as well!

**LadyKebechet**: Yes, and now we can go off into the plot more because of that! :D. I have a hard time writing humorous scenes, but I think it went alright. I'm planning to develop that as I keep writing. You read _Fruits Basket_? *O* It was such a sweet manga, but I watched the anime more. Did you read it or watch it?

There's so much planned in my head for this story, it's just a huge mess. I just need to write it, and that's where the annoying part comes in. Converting your thoughts into a story where everyone can understand is a pain in the butt :I. But I'm sure all of you know what I'm talking about.

Whenever I think of Fukuda and Yui, Ke$ha's _Your Love Is My Drug_ comes into my head. I think that should be their 'theme', how about you? It's casual and cute, just like them! Ha, look at me picking songs for a pair that isn't even a couple yet. How dare I!

**I don't own Bakuman; only Yui Ueda and this plot.**

* * *

Two out of three sat on the floor, across from each other as if they were afraid of catching something. The third was in his chair, squatting in the seat. Eiji was looking at the two teens in front of him, mostly toward the hot headed man rather the more than flustered woman. After the… Incident, it took all of his coaxing for the new assistant to step out of the bathroom, even after getting her garments back from the white haired teen. Fukuda tried explaining why he was holding – spreading out – Yui's underwear, but it had just resulted into more chaos and nosebleeds on his part. So the brunette had just put up a hand to silent him and went to the bathroom door, not wanting to hear anymore. Luckily for him, embarrassment took over Fukuda's features and he had obliged, hurriedly gathering the rest of her clothes.

Now that the worst was over, Eiji thought it'd be a good idea to get them to greet properly, but it had to be soon. He was getting sleepy; it was a good thing he was still there while Yui's scream echoed throughout the studio or it would've went completely amiss. Nevertheless, this introduction needed to hurry along and get started. It had been nearly twenty minutes and they hadn't said a word!

"Fukuda-sensei, Ueda-san," he gestured toward the girl far against the wall, "Ueda-san, Fukuda-sensei."

Yui blinked and glanced up from her place on the floor, looking through her damp bangs; still wet and entangled from the shower. When she saw him looking back at her, she quickly averted her eyes and lowered her head, face heating up and her arms going around her knees. She was dreading in embarrassment, and just wanted to either go home or to sleep. Her hopes upon a great first impression were shattered; this was the last thing she wanted to happen. The first time she met someone completely new all while in a towel, naked, and dripping wet; she surely couldn't just pipe up and say, 'Hello, my name is Ueda Yui, and I'm the new editor.' No. That's why she had run back into the bathroom, to avoid eyes traveling down her body and trying to peer past the robe. Not that she was accusing him for anything; he was a man after all, and her fault for being out in the first place. This was going to be the last time she used another person's shower.

_I can't believe that happened,_ Yui whimpered inside her head, thinking back to the memory that had occurred well over a half an hour ago. Just thinking about the ordeal had her face reddening more. Niizuma was the first one she blamed this awkwardness on, since he had set her clothes in a place where she couldn't reach them. But then the more she thought about it, it was really her fault to begin with. She could've just denied the shower, and ask to be sent home. But that would've been rude. Instead of walking out of the bathroom, she could've just called out for Niizuma to get them for her. But that would've been rude, also.

Wordlessly she glanced back up at Fukuda, hoping he'd be looking elsewhere. Unfortunately, his grey eyes were still bearing into her lavender ones, and the gaze was unsettling. He was sitting on the floor as well, directly across from where she had been, only sitting crisscross and much more at ease with him. The blood – _from his nose? – _had stained the collar of his white shirt, and the trail was only vaguely seen, but still there nonetheless. For an odd reason it wanted to make Yui chuckle, but she refrained from it, fearing it'd only upset the man. Fukuda furrowed his brows at her then, seeing the hesitation on her face. Why the Hell was she embarrassed? He was the one walking in on her, and there was nothing she should feel ashamed about. _Nothing at all, with a body like hers, _Fukuda twitched his eye and pushed the beginning of lewd thoughts out of his head, grumbling something to himself and looking the other way to reminisce.

* * *

"_Fukuda-sensei… Why are you holding Ueda-san's panties?"_

_Fuck! Fuck, fuck! How the Hell did I get into this situation?_

_I grimaced and whipped my head up, only to see Niizuma standing above me. His eyebrows were quirked up, looking all the more surprised rather than shocked and disgusted. Thoughts raced through my head; the Hell was I supposed to say? I started sputtering once I opened my damned mouth._

"_I- No! This is-"_

"_Fukuda-sensei's a pervert! Ueda-san! Fukuda-sensei is spreading apart your underwear!"_

"_No! I'm not!"_

"_What was that?!" that woman inside the bathroom screeched, in what sounded like bewilderment and embarrassment. My eyes widened and went to the bathroom door, screaming to her that nothing was going on. It didn't help that Niiuzma was babbling nonsense, of what sounded like accusing me of being a pervert and such. I twitched my eye and groaned in annoyance, waiting for him to get next to me before deciding to make a stop to the childish gestures. I stuck out my foot and tripped the brat, grinning at the loud smack that rang out when he hit the floor._

"_It's not like it was intentional!"_

"_Then why are you still holding them?" freaking Niizuma mused out, propping himself up by an elbow as just laid there. That smug face of his was really starting to get annoying. I flinched at the comment and just threw her panties to the side, not giving a shit where they were now. It turned worse when my face was starting to freakin' burn again. Fantastic, now both of them thought I'm a damned hormonal fool. It wasn't my fault!  
_

"_I- she asked me to give them to her!"_

"_Ueda__-san_ asked for you to get her panties for her?"

_Stupid little…_  
_  
"No! Her clothes! She asked me to get her clothes! Clothes! Panti– her underwear fell out!"_

_Don't know what the Hell was going through his brain, but he just didn't seem to get it. What wasn't there to freaking get? It's almost as if he doesn't believe what I was saying! It's not like I went over to her clothes and took them out myself, who does he think he is? She __**did**__ ask me to get her clothes, and you were too busy doing Hell knows what in the other room! The way he looked at me was as if he thought I was babbling about something stupid. I even tried doing pointless had gestures, anything to get him to know I'm innocent! But that didn't seem to help any, so I just scowled and tried again._

"_I don't want to hear any more, Fukuda-sensei!"_

_The rude interruption made me frown, and I watched as he stood and covered his ears. He was looking somewhere that was beyond me, over my head or something. I didn't say a word and he suddenly screeched, "No more!"_

"_Eh?"_

_Niizuma trotted over and took the heap of clothes from the desk, __**my **__desk, before bending down to get her panties. He picked them up they were and ordinary piece of cloth! What the Hell? Wait… They __**are**__ a regular piece of cloth. Cheh, no they aren't! They're panties, for damn's sake! They rub against chicks'-_

_Something banging on the door close by made me snap my head over, eyebrows scrunched. Does he really think she'll open it after what just happened? I freakin' doubt it. She looks like the flustered type, just great. It's going to be a pain in the ass trying to get her out._

"_Y-yes?"_

"_Ueda-____san_! I have your clothes! Open up, please!"

"_No!"_

"_Please Ueda-____san_? Fukuda-sensei is sorry he stole your garments."

_Seriously?_

"_I did not steal–!"_

_Did the brat just interrupt me by coughing? My eye twitched in irritation, even before he turned around to attempt in a glare. Even I could see that he wasn't serious in it, but it still was rubbing me the wrong way. He thought he knew what was going on; bullshit!_

_Just then my mind 'clicked'. What __**was**__ that girl; her name was Ueda, wasn't it? What the Hell was Ueda doing in Niizuma's shower in the first place? My eyebrows rose unconsciously at this thought. It would make more sense if Ueda was a guy, but seeing that woman naked, she was anything but. Wait a second, __**naked**__? You didn't see her __**naked**__, Fukuda, you moron! But she might as well have been, since that robe wasn't doing anything to help her. She had to actually force it close._

_Apparently my expression had changed, since Niizuma was now looking at me with puzzlement. I saw him out of the corner of my eye._

"_Fukuda-sensei is thinking lewd thoughts."_

_Lewd thoughts?! I choked on my own spit at his comment, ripping my attention away from wherever the Hell I was looking, back to that brat I worked for. And there was that smug, amused expression plastered permanently on his face again. I freaking hated that look._

"_Lewd thoughts? Stop assuming!"_

"_Why else would Fukuda-sensei's face be all red?"_

"_Embarrassment! It's called being nervous and embarrassed, Niizuma!"_

_He was silent for a moment, and I had thought the argument was mine to win, but apparently luck just wasn't on my side tonight._

"_There's nothing to be nervous about, Fukuda-sensei. Ueda-____san_'s just a girl."

_Ueda's much more than just a girl, damn it… That there is a full grown woman._

_The click of a lock was what I heard next, and I swallowed hard before looking over to the bathroom door. Niizuma held her clothes with one hand and covered his eyes with another, waiting patiently for her to open it._

"_I'm not looking, Ueda-____san_! It's safe!"

_Fuck. She wouldn't dare open it all the way, would she? Seeing her all hot and wet again- Ugh. A small grunt left my throat as I glanced to the side. Luckily the door opened just a crack and I actually found myself scanning to see if she'd expose more than just her arm. Unfortunately she had already taken her heap of clothes and shut the door before I could blink._

"_See? That wasn't so hard!"_

_I couldn't help but rolling my eyes. Yeah, maybe not so hard for __**her**__. I'm the one fighting an arousal here, that's the freaking worse a guy could go through… Che, what the Hell am I talking about? She's the one who was caught in that state, not me. If it were me, I wouldn't be acting like a flustered little girl._

"_Fukuda-sensei, that wasn't very nice."_

"_What the Hell wasn't very nice!"_

_Niizuma sat his ass down on his chair in front of me, sitting crisscross. He narrowed his eyes at me, making mine harden. So there was more to his little assumptions, where there? Fantastic, it looks like he needs more than explanation._

"_Ogling at Ueda-____san_ isn't very nice, Fukuda-sensei. Especially since she's my new-"

"_New __**what**__? I've been wondering since I saw her naked in the middle of the damned room!"_

"_She wasn't naked, she was-"_

"_I don't care! Naked under that freaking robe, which was at least a size or two small for her!"_

"_That's because it was my robe, Fukuda-sensei."_

"_Why were you letting her, a __**woman**__, use your robe?"_

_He pouted, "I was trying to be nice."_

_Now I felt like a complete asshole. Just for a second, at least. With a groan I pinched the bridge of my nose, looking down with my eyes shut. I felt a headache coming on, but that was the least of my troubles. At least the tension in the room had lingered out._

"_You still haven't made it clear why you were holding Ueda-____san_'s panties, Fukuda-sensei."

"_You–!"_

* * *

It wasn't that much of a big deal; Fukuda had felt that it was just a complete misunderstanding. And it was. People were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. The situation could have been twice as worse, with Yui wearing nothing, but luckily that hadn't of happened. She was too smart to do something as embarrassing as that, anyway. He still blamed Niizuma for it, even if the boy was trying to be helpful to her. Fukuda frowned and took a mental note to talk to him about it later. A boy letting a girl shower wasn't exactly frowned upon; however it was still odd and rather improper, especially since the two barely knew each other.

Fukuda tried looking back at Yui, but she wasn't facing his way. She was toying with the hem of her shirt. Annoyance started to overcome him suddenly. Of course she was embarrassed, he understood that. But was it really necessary to avoid his glances every time he looked over to her? Anytime he tried to speak during the twenty minutes, he found her looking the other way or with her head in her lap. It was starting to get of Fukuda's nerves. _Enough of this freaking charade._

The loud cough in his fist made Yui flinch, and finally she looked him in the eye. Fukuda inwardly grinned and straightened his back, completely facing her now. Niizuma was even surprised, eyes a bit wider than they had been, but he was mentally thanking Fukuda for breaking the silence. It had been beyond awkward.

"Nice to meet you."

She didn't reply right away, and he didn't expect her to. But when she looked away again, the hope of her doing so was about to be gone. A low growl escaped his throat, and he began to stand.

"N-Nice to meet you, as well…"

_Well, that wasn't so hard, was it?_ Fukuda paused in standing, knees still bent slightly. Her voice had cracked and he could barely hear her, but at least she said _something_. The awkward tension in the air was finally starting to wither. Niizuma was hoping that Fukuda wouldn't say something to screw it up; anything could make her retreat back into her shell, and he did not want two of his editors not getting along. He needed all the teamwork he could get.

"So," Fukuda was standing fully now, "who exactly are you?"

"My new editor!" Niizuma had piped in, trying to show that he was part of this as well. He was also trying to get Yui more relaxed, so that she would start talking. It seemed to be working, since Yui had lowered her knees from her face. Now all he needed to do was get her fully into a conversation. Fukuda had turned his attention back to the brunette.

"A new editor? We have plenty!"

"You didn't say that when Mashiro-sensei was here, Fukuda-sensei."

Fukuda rolled his eyes, "actually, I did. But that was different."

"How?"

"Mashiro?"

Both of the boys were looking over to Yui now, eyebrows raise at her sudden interjection. Her posture on the floor had changed, and she looked rather eager and curious instead of nervous and scared. She sat up on her knees, sitting on them as her body faced the two.

Niizuma had been the one to answer her, "he was the artist of _Money and Intelligence_! He was my editor for _Crow_."

Fukuda snorted, "Only for a couple days."

Yui perked up. "Why?"

"Found inspiration," Fukuda shrugged. He went over to his desk and sat down in his chair, eying at the various pencils and pens scattering along the surface. One of his legs was brought up and rested on his knee, "but anyway, we don't need another editor."

"Fukuda-sensei! Be nice, Yujiro-san brought her over!"

This certainly got Fukuda's attention. The silvernette furrowed his brows and snapped his head up to him, now realizing what Yujiro had called him over to the studio for. It was to meet this girl! The anger from before was seeping into him again, and his right eye began to twitch.

"Wait a second. **This** is what he wanted me here for? To meet a freaking girl that's our new editor? He could have told me over the phone, damn it, not drag me all the way out here!"

Niizuma raised his arms, leaning back on his seat, "Fukuda-sensei, I didn't even know you were coming since I'm still-"

Fukuda got out of his chair and pointed behind him, gesturing to where his motorcycle was downstairs. "I could've been working on _Kiyoshi Knight_! Instead I was called over, and what happens? I walk in to see a naked girl standing in the middle of the studio!"

Yui flushed a rosy crimson, the shade darkening her complexion. The situation was supposed to be over with, yet here Fukuda was bringing it up again! Yui couldn't help but feel a little betrayed by this. She watched as Niizuma was replying back to him, more calmly and soothing. What he said didn't seem to matter, and Fukuda continued to complain about how he had been interrupted from his work. Ueda wasn't used once in his description of what happened, instead she heard, 'that woman,' and, 'naked girl,' spew from the boy's foul mouth. It made her frown and her eyebrows knit together. It was rude of him to refer to her in that way!_ He's really calling me the naked lady! Is he serious? How dare him! I have a name!_

Yui didn't give Niizuma a chance to respond for the second time, as she was standing and already heading over to where Fukuda was. She stomped over to him with a hand on her hip, jabbing a finger in his chest, "you listen here! I'm sorry you had to see my breasts but I certainly did not mean to greet you that way! I wanted to make a good first impression, I'll have you know!"

Fukuda blinked at her before stepping back and swatting her finger away from him. He couldn't help but get the image of her standing in the room again when she talked about it, but he quickly forgot when she had stopped talking. With a cross of his arms, he scoffed, "you sure made a good impression, alright."

"E-excuse me?"

"You heard me!"

Niizuma stared at the two, mouth agape. Weren't they starting to get along just a minute ago? Now they were mere feet apart from each other, bickering about something that accidentally happened. His head started to ache at how loud they were getting.

"I didn't mean for it to happen, Fukuda-san!"

"Won't change that it did, girl!"

"I have a name!"

"I don't care!"

Yui gritted her teeth in frustration, dropping her hand and setting it on the other side of her hip. _This boy is so annoying and stubborn! It was an accident! Why is he even so angry about it? It's not like I ment to be caught in that robe! He's the one who was being a pervert, anyway! _Yui blinked and paused in her thinking. Niizuma had said that he was looking at her underwear, didn't he? But at the same time, Fukuda had been denying that he was doing it._ He probably did it on purpose and was denying it because he got caught!_

Fukuda noticed her change of expression and frowned. _What is she thinking about? Is she really trying to come up with a comeback? What a ditz!_

"You're the one who was fondling my panties!"

Yui's flushed face was now licensed to Fukuda now, and he scoffed nervously at how blunt she sounded. _She did not just accuse me of that! After I told her I didn't do it! What the Hell?_

"I-! I was not!"

"Then what was the fuss all about with Niizuma-san?"

"I caught him, Ueda-san, I caught him looking at them!"

Fukuda whipped his head over to him, "SHUT **UP**, NIIZUMA!"

"You're just a hormonal little boy who couldn't help himself!"

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me!"

A growl escaped his throat. Yui just turned his own argument against him! And using his words, no less! Fukuda uncrossed his arms and pointed at her, "**you** asked me to get your clothes for you!"

"And what, they just fell out?"

"Yes! That's exactly what happened!"

"So it was just an accident, then, wasn't it!"

"That's- do you have freaking ears? I've been trying to explain that, damn it!"

"There we go!"

Fukuda squinted his eyes, "what the Hell are you talking about?"

Yui dropped her defensive stance, withdrawing her hands from her hips. She lifted up a hand and set a hand on her chest.

"I didn't mean to cause trouble. I was getting my clothes after Niizuma had washed them, and it was coincidental that you had to walk in while I was doing so. It was an _accident_," she pointed at Fukuda, "my panties fell out of my jeans, right? And coincidentally, Niizuma-san walked in to see you picking them up. It was an _accident_!"

There was a silence that followed her statement.

_Fuck._ Fukuda narrowed his eyes. _She's right._

Little did Yui know that Fukuda had actually spread her garments out on his free will, but he wasn't about to admit to that. He sent a glare towards Niizuma, as if warning him not to comment on the matter. He could tell that the brunette wanted to clarify, but it was already bad enough that he had lost an argument to a girl. Having her know that he knew all the visuals to her underwear would just add fuel to the fire.

"Well, then, I think we should start over."

Fukuda blinked dumbly and glanced back to her. A smile blossomed on her lips suddenly, and he was taken aback at the sudden change of emotion. He was thrown off balance even more when she held out her hand to him.

"Ueda Yui."

_She wants to start over?_ Fukuda raised his eyebrows. _She just went from a mouse to a freaking falcon in seconds, and now she wants to start over?_

She wanted to start over with introductions, seeing as the first meeting was all but professional. Niizuma sat upright in his chair, still remaining silent just from curiosity. He watched as Fukuda stared at her hand for a while. It made his relief wash away that he wouldn't have to worry about them tearing up the place. They might have rough patches along the way, but Niizuma had a feeling that they'd be able to get through them and actually be friends. The brunette couldn't help but grin when Fukuda mimicked her actions, smirking smugly as his hand met hers.

"Fukuda Shinta."

* * *

I have to admit, this was a fun chapter to write. I really need to keep my brain juices flowing, because this story is really growing on me. And is it true that people don't really enjoy CharacterOC stories? Because I love them, so knowing what other people think is important. Leave your answer in a review, please!

Don't be afraid to point out any errors in a polite review or message, either! It'll really help me prevent mistakes in future chapters!


	5. Sleeping Arrangements

**I deleted** **the previous fifth chapter** to replace it with this one since I changed so much. There's still similar things but the overall idea is different. I also changed/added some details in the previous three, so go back and read if you want.

Here are the previous review replies I kept:

**RyuSayuri: **ahhh you're review made me blush, I hope you know~. Don't worry though; I most likely won't stop writing for this story or my other ones. I might not update for a while, like this time ffff, but I will always try when I get inspired to. I know what it's like to see a good/great/fantastic story and it's not even finished ;A;. It sucks. Bad. And I keep reminding myself to not do that. Hopefully Fukuda and Niizuma are in character. I see Fukuda as a hothead/tsundere but there's so much more to him than that. But, anyway, I hope you like this new chapter!

**Meggymalna**: I'm glad you think it's interesting; I try to keep it that way! I believe sweetcake is a word; I used to use it a lot. Yui's just like a precious lamb, but she needs to experience more things. Maybe Fukuda will be the one to teach her those things? ;D

**Azalia Fox Knightling**: Thank you! Maybe he'll find out soon, you never know~.

**LadyKebechet**,** Xeniz**, **KageMiu**: Thank you for the kind comments, I hope you enjoy this new chapter!

**I only own the character Yui Ueda, her manga plot, and this story. I do not own Bakuman or any of its characters in any shape or form.**

* * *

It was now later in the evening, the sun finally out of sight and switching roles with the moon. Fukuda had shown Yui around the studio all while discussing how the work would be divided and what she needed to do. Though when he went to show her Niizuma's desk the poor boy threw a fit before Yui could take another good look at it. It was too bad; she wanted to see if he had more fanart hidden under the storyboards of _Crow. _Her desk was next, off to the side and against two others It was where Mashiro had sat during his short time as an editor. Yui had stared at it in awe, sitting in the seat carefully as if not to break it. The excitement was building up within her again. She couldn't believe she was here, with Niizuma Eiji. Given he was strange, Yui found herself not caring. His talent was what intrigued her. Though she had a feeling his antics would grow on her; they would take some getting used to. Then there was Fukuda: though they had started out badly, Yui had a feeling things would be fine between them. They might butt heads once in a while but both would be able to get over it eventually.

Yui was actually anxious to meet the third person. She believed his name was Nakai from what Fukuda had told her during her tour.

"Since everyone's acquainted now, I'm gonna get some sleep," Niizuma interrupted the little expedition with a yawn. He was more mellow now, exhaustion finally taking a toll on him. It had been a long and enduring day for him, with Yui coming around and having to do another chapter of _Crow_. Luckily his part was done; all that needed to be done were little details, something one of them could do by themselves. He wouldn't have Yui do anything since there wasn't much to be done.

"Try to get here early tomorrow, would ya? We still need to add some finishing touches before submitting the final chapters."

"Yeah, yeah," the brunette waved Fukuda off, "nighty night~!"

Yui stood from her seat and spoke without thinking, "w-wait! What about me?"

Niizuma had stopped in mid-step, one foot already through the doorway to his bedroom. He turned to look at her. "What about Ueda-san?"

"Ah," she stuttered, looking dumfounded. "Am I… Really sleeping here? Do I really need to if there's nothing for me to do?"

"Oh, right, there isn't anything really. I guess you can go home, then!"

Despite feeling a bit relieved, the awkwardness didn't leave her. Yui shuffled her feet and tucked her hands behind her. Someone would have to take her home since she didn't have her car. She wished she would've said something to Yujiro before he left, about having him come back to drive her to the train station. But Yui was too wrapped up and distracted to think clearly. _This is a real problem..._

Fukuda noticed this discomfort and rose a brow, "what's with that look?"

"Er," Yui started, scratching the side of her cheek, "now that I think about it... I can't really go home."

Both boys turned to her, confusion etched on their faces. "Why is that, Ueda-san?"

_Don't make me say it- _"I... I don't have a car," she muttered quietly, looking down at the wooden floor. Neither seemed to hear her and leaned in closer.

"What was that?"

Rolling her eyes in annoyance, Yui snapped her head up to look at them, "I don't know how to drive, okay! Yujiro-san brought me over!"

Yui flinched slightly as Fukuda started to laugh, "you don't know yet?!"

Niizuma tilted his head, "I don't know how to, either, Ueda-san, but how did you get _Jump's_ office?"

"I took the train..."

"How old are you?!" she was starting to get annoyed by the taller male's laughter. It wasn't even funny! This was why she kept things like not being able to drive by herself. It was already embarrassing enough; having someone laugh at it only made it worse for her.

Nevertheless, Yui answered him anyway, "Er.. I'll turn nineteen the ninth of October-"

"And you don't even have a freaking permit?! Seriously?! I got my motorcycle license _years_ ago!"

Yui's cheeks started to flush a deep scarlet. Even if she had obtained her license, she didn't have enough money to purchase a car. At least not at the rate things are going now; Yui barely could pay her bills with some left over for food. When her mother would still speak to her, she was the one to drive her around with no complaints. But now that she was away from her mother, Yui had to fend for herself. By taking the train, getting places often took a bit longer, but other than that it didn't bother Yui at all. There were obvious dangers when taking the train at certain times, however, such as perverted men who would often feel up on women such as herself. This was why she avoided taking the train at night; it reduced the risks greatly.

"Fukuda-sensei can drive you, Ueda-san!"

This was when the silvernette's laughter had halted. He whipped his head over to the young mangaka, eyebrows furrowed. "I don't have time for that, Niizuma. I wouldn't even be here if Yujiro hadn't bothered me!"

"Well, I can't drive, and it's too dangerous for a woman to take the train this late. It's the only option, Fukuda-sensei!"

Seeing Niizuma's point, the silvernette turned to glance at her. "How far do you live?"

Yui met his gaze, "near Yokosuka."

"Yokosuka?! That's- looks like you're staying here, then! I'm not gonna waste my gas by driving three hours straight* just to take your ass home!"

"I... I don't mind, as long as it won't be trouble."

Niizuma's eyes went wide, "of course not, Ueda-san! You're my new editor, after all! You'll just be here all alone..."

He was right about that. It was one concern Yui had, but she wasn't about to admit it. She would sound too needy otherwise. "That's fi-"

"I got it! Fukuda-sensei can stay with you!"

"Tch- will you stop making my decisions for me? I told you no, already!"

"But Fukuda-sensei has to be a man and watch over her!"

"What the Hell is that supposed to mean?!"

Yui blinked as the two of them argued back and forth, though it seemed like a one sided argument; Niizuma was simply trying to convince Fukuda into staying with her. Though she understood his concern, even if Fukuda were to stay with her- Yui frowned slightly at the thought and turned to look behind her. There were only two doors in the studio: the bathroom and break room. If Fukuda agreed to stay, there would only be one place for the two to sleep. Yui was female and Fukuda was male, so sleeping in the same room together wouldn't be an option. It wasn't proper. _There's just one problem after another, isn't there? It looks like I'll have to take the train home after all since there's only one room. I'd be sleeping with Fukuda otherwise! Er- no! No, no, that's not what I ment! That doesn't sound right at all!_

_"_Ueda-san? Why is your face red?"

Turning back to the two boys, Yui's eyes widened slightly. Their conversation seemed to have halted once Niizuma had noticed Yui's change of complexion. Was she really blushing just by a thought like that? Without a word she reached up to touch her cheeks. Sure enough, her skin was heated ever so slightly, causing Yui to look away. It took her a couple tries to get her mouth working again.

"Um... Fukuda-san, even if you were to stay, where would you sleep?"

Fukuda snorted as if she had asked a stupid question, "in the break room, where else?"

_Oh, for the love of- _"Where would I sleep?"

"Are you really that much of a ditz, Ueda? The break room, of-... _Oh_."

Yui narrowed her eyes at him, hands still touching her face. _There we go, big boy. That's what I was saying.  
_

But Niizuma didn't seem to understand quite yet. "There's enough blankets in there for two."

"No, Niizuma-san, that's not the problem-... Well, it's not exactly a _problem_, but..."

The brunette just stared at her. Fukuda rolled his eyes and interjected, "don't know how you could forget already, Niizuma, but Ueda-san's a girl. I'm obviously not."

Said girl glared at him for referencing the earlier incident so casually. It took the young mangaka a second but he seemed to finally get the hint. Niizuma groggily rubbed his face. Yui would have to share a room with Fukuda since he had his own bed to get to. Seeing as what had happened earlier, he wasn't sure that was the best idea. The studio only had one extra room so neither wouldn't have any privacy.

And since Yui was female, she would need more privacy than Fukuda.

"I got it!" Niizuma had exclaimed after a couple moments of thinking, "Fukuda-sensei can sleep out here! Ueda-san, sleep in the break room! Your bed is already made!"

"What?! I ain't sleeping out here, I'm going ho-"

"Then it's settled! Good night everyone! Ueda-san! Fukuda-sensei!"

Before Fukuda could get his two cents in, Niizuma had shut the front door. The slam echoed through the small apartment before silence fell upon the two. Yui blanched, not knowing exactly what to say about the situation. An awkward silence settled between them, something that had been happening a lot lately. Nervously, the girl peeked up to look at Fukuda, wondering what his reaction was going to be. She saw him staring at the door, mouth slack as if he was gawking. Then, after what seemed like forever, he finally spoke, expression turning sour.

"Godammit, that Niizuma! I'm not staying here!"

Without a word to Yui, Fukuda was already stalking toward the front where Niizuma had gone. She watched as he opened the door and left, leaving herself standing in the middle of the studio. The girl waited for a while, silently hoping he'd come back so she'd have some sort of company. A couple minutes went by let Yui to believe he wasn't going to. She was alone now, in Niizuma Eiji's apartment. _This isn't awkward at all,_ Yui though to herself sarcastically. Meeting three new people, having to stay at one's house… Or was she forced to stay? She didn't think of it that way, it was more of mixed communications. If only Niizuma knew she needed to start working on the third chapter of her own manga, then maybe things would have turned out differently. But then becoming his editor would have become a waste.

Still, Yui was working under one of her inspirations. The young woman couldn't help but smile at the realization. She was so happy! A small squeal was let out as she hopped in place, unable to hold in her cheer any longer. It was all thanks to their editor, Yujiro Hattori. She had to remember to thank him the next time she saw him. If he hadn't taken an interest in her, Yui surely wouldn't be where she physically was now.

After twirling her body a couple times, Yui came to a halt, eyes closed with her cheeky grin still on display. _It's still a shame Fukuda-san didn't stay with me, I could've learned a bit more from him. But forcing him wouldn't be the best thing to do, either. He seemed on edge enough today._

Unknowingly for her, though, Fukuda hadn't of gone home. He was still outside of the first door, hand still on the handle. Having of stopped in his tracks, Fukuda wondered if leaving her was really the best thing to do. She was a stranger despite having just met, but at the same time she was now a work partner. A heavy sigh and he was running a hand through his hair, up and underneath his beanie. Part of him did feel bad about leaving her there alone. She was pretty much forced to stay in the studio since she had no way to get home. Sure, he could have driven her, but it was much less of a hassle for her just to spend the night. This way he could work on _Kiyoshi Knight_, but again, was that really the right thing to do in this situation? It seemed a bit greedy to leave and Niizuma's words were starting to bother him: '_But Fukuda-sensei has to be a man and watch over her!'_

As if he wasn't a man! Maybe a young man, but Fukuda considered being nineteen grown-up enough.

Fukuda felt a frown tugging at his lips._ Godamnit it, I'm really going to stay, aren't I? I'm going to kill Yujiro in the morning for this._

When he stepped back into the studio, he found Yui on the floor. She was on her stomach, head on her arm and drawing something on a piece of paper. Fukuda stared at her for a while, watching as she shaded something he couldn't identify. After he realized she probably wasn't going to notice him unless he announced himself, Fukuda stepped in further and closed the door.

"What the Hell are you doing?"

To his amusement she had flinched, attention obviously focused on drawing as he had guessed. Her eyes widened slightly as she looked up to him, surprised to see he hadn't of left. It made her feel better to know that she wasn't going to be alone in an unfamiliar place.

She didn't hide the surprise in her voice, "Fukuda-san? I thought you left."

_Yeah, well, that was the plan. That brat made me feel bad about leaving you here alone._

"Yeah, well, I didn't," he answered her, walking over to his desk and sitting. "And you still have to answer my question. Why are you on the floor?"

Yui tugged at the end of her handkerchief, glancing up at him, "I draw when I'm not tired."

Normally Yui would draw on her desk, leaning so far down her back would ache if she stayed like that for long periods of time. Often when she's experiencing insomnia, she'd do so all night until she fell asleep doing it. Whether it was on her bed, desk, or by the window; Yui kept drawing until she was at her exhaustion limit.

"That doesn't answer why you're not drawing on the desk. That's what they're ment for, you know," he answered sarcastically. Yui's lips quirked slightly at this and she leaned back on her palms.

"I draw better on my stomach. I figured that I would eventually fall asleep if in a sleeping position, so that's why I'm on the floor. Does that answer suit your fancy, you're highness?"

Fukuda couldn't help but bark out a laugh, "what's with the attitude all of a sudden? You were too freaking timid before."

"Ha, sorry, I do that sometimes."

"Don't apologize for it, it's not like I'm offended or anything. I can take sly remarks like that."

Yui nodded sharply and went to lay back down, "noted!"

There was another stem of silence as she started to draw again, but it wasn't awkward this time. Fukuda simply watched her, leaning back in his reclining chair. He was able to see better from when he was in the doorway. What she had drawn was more clear now. Next to the seashell that had been finished earlier was now a jellyfish, then next to it was a dolphin. She was drawing an eel underneath the mammal now.

Without thinking, Fukuda had spoken, "you're good at drawing animals."

When she didn't answer, the silvernette frowned slightly. He waited until she was done with the eel to ask again, but Yui had beaten him to it.

"It's what I'm good at, aside from weapons. I've been practicing vehicles, too, and it's going pretty well even though I don't have much experience."

Fukuda smirked, "noted."

He didn't miss hearing a chuckle coming from under her breath.

* * *

"Fukuda-san? Are you Awake? Fukuda-"

"Fucking- go away, Nakai!"

"But Fukuda-san, there's-"

"It can wait!"

"Listen, Fukuda-san! There's a young lady on the studio floor! She won't wake up.."

Groaning, the silvernette opened his eyes to glare at the older man. Did he not learn to leave him alone when he was sleeping? "That's the new editor, Ueda, you-," he paused, "what the Hell did you say?"

Nakai cringed at his harsh tone, "she's on the floor, I think she's hurt-..."

Fukuda hadn't of stayed in bed when he had heard the words 'she' and 'hurt'. Without a second thought he nearly barged into the studio room, sliding the break room door open with a loud slam. When he didn't see Yui anywhere he couldn't help but let his anger rise. Nakai had said she was there, so where was she? Fukuda walked deeper into the studio before whipping his head back toward the other man.

"There's no one freaking here! She's probably in the shower- _shit_!"

Not looking where he was going, Fukuda ended up tripping and falling straight to the wooden floor. He groaned as he laid there, still a bit too groggy to move. Nakai had to hold back a laugh as he heard the younger male let out a string of curses.

"Goddamnit, what the Hell was that?!" He glared daggers at whatever had made him trip. When he saw that it was a leg, however, he was more shocked than anything else. His eyes, along with Nakai's, traveled up the appendage to see that it had belonged to Yui. The girl was on her side facing Fukuda, left arm tucked underneath and in her chest. Her right arm was stretched out, along with the leg that had tripped Fukuda. An inking pen was loosely being held in her hand as well. She was also drooling, cheek rested on what looked to be sketching paper. Fukuda couldn't believe how comfortable she looked, and the fact that she hadn't even of moved an inch after he had literally fallen over her.

"Fukuda?" he heard Nakai ask, "Is this Ueda-san?"

"No, it's just a stranger that decided to break in just to draw pansy-ass pictures. Yes, this is Ueda!" Fukuda had snapped at Nakai, not noticing his frustration. But what was there to be frustrated about? He couldn't figure out why; it was her choice to sleep there anyway. He decided to blame it on being woken up in such a manner.

"Well... Why is she out here, then?"_  
_

Nakai had a point. Fukuda couldn't help but furrow his brows. Wasn't she supposed to sleep in the break room? It was like their sleeping arrangements had been switched without proper discussion. _That's right, she was supposed to come wake me up so we'd switch places. I was gonna sleep out here... She must've fell asleep out here before that could happen.  
_

"Forcing a woman to sleep out here was rather cold, Fukuda..."

"Eh? That's not what happened, she was supposed to sleep in the break room while I slept out here!"

Nakai stared at him, blinking, "then why is she out here instead of you?"

"She obviously fell asleep here, that's what happened. It's not like I did it on purpose!"

"Ueda-san's a good sleeper if she can pass through you yelling, Fukuda."

Fukuda rolled his eyes and ignored the older man, instead focusing his attention on Yui. His legs were still over hers after he had fallen; he hadn't really bothered to move them after sitting up. The girl didn't seem to notice, either, since she was still fast asleep. Fukuda watched her for a moment before glancing down at the papers her face was resting on. _How many papers did she draw on last night? There's more than when I left her to go to bed. _Which probably ment she hadn't of slept all night.

Despite wanting to let her sleep, he still needed to show her some more things concerning_ Crow_. Niizuma was due within the hour, so she would just have to wake up anyway.

"Oi, Ueda!" Fukuda shook her shoulder, "wake up. Rise and shine!"

Instead of awakening like Fukuda had wanted, Yui only groaned and shifted, craning her neck up. While doing so the paper exposed what she had drawn on them, piquing his curiosity. Ignoring the sleeping girl, Fukuda reached over her to pick up the pieces of paper. He sat back and held them up, seeing Nakai lean in out of the corner of his eye.

"Wow, she's good at details. Look at the water coming off of the dolphins."

Fukuda only grunted in response. _Why am I not surprised? Only girls draw things like this… _He only scanned the sketches of seashells and cute mammals commonly seen in shojo manga. It wasn't anything that was interesting to him.

"She draws animals very well, too," he vaguely heard Nakai comment. "Look at that bird; I think it's a macaw."

The second sheet had more sea life, such as jellyfish, starfish and eels. He recognized this page as the one she was drawing yesterday. He noticed two eels, one male and one female (Fukuda assumed since one had a bow), who were nuzzling their noses together. He couldn't help but scoff and look at Yui oddly before switching the pages once more. When he heard Nakai gasp, though, he frowned and turned to him.

"Okay, I get it, Nakai, she's great at animals! You don't have to say it every freaking time."

But Nakai only shook his head. He didn't look to be in awe like he had with the other pages. Instead he almost looked shocked, pointing at the paper in Fukuda's hand. Fukuda had no choice but to turn his head back to the drawing, only to flinch.

The page was snatched out of his hands faster than he could comprehend what had just happened. He stared dumbly as Yui tore the paper away from him, expression wary. She clutched it tightly to her chest, using her other arm to prop herself off from the ground.

"No! D-don't look at it!"

It took Fukuda a couple seconds for his shock to waver, but when it did, he was back to his usual, hot-headed self, "what was that for, Ueda? You had no problem with me looking at them before."

"That's-," Yui stuttered, "this is different! You can't see this one!"

He scoffed and went to reach for it, "I'll be the judge of that."

Nakai's face turned a light pink as Yui hurriedly stuffed the paper down her shirt, sticking her tongue out in a childish manner. He looked at Fukuda to see his reaction, but the male was only thrown off for a split second.

"Cheh! You think I won't retrieve it if it's down there?"

Yui's voice raised several octaves, "you wouldn't dare!"

This time Fukuda only stared at her as if he was daring her to test him. They stayed like that for a while, looking at each other to see who would do what first. Nakai felt some sweat tickle his brow. Yui was definitely hiding something in that drawing of hers, especially since the drawing had consisted of something Fukuda hated. But it couldn't be what Nakai was thinking. There was no way Yui could be Ches-

"Y-You! You looked! I saw you!"

"What are you talking about now?"

"You looked at my breasts again! I thought we talked about that after what happened last time!"

_L-Last time? _Nakai couldn't help but stare. _What happened last time with these two?!_

"That's not what happened, Ueda! And besides, I'm a grown man! I should be able to look wherever I want!"

"Looking at a woman's breasts like that is disrespectful!"

_She's got you there, Fukuda._

Of course, with Fukuda being Fukuda, he didn't acknowledge her comment and simply changed the subject. "Just-," he rubbed his hands down his face, "let me see the freaking drawing, Ueda."

But Yui only shook her head stubbornly, "why do you want to see it so bad anyway?"

"Because apparently it was something important for Nakai to respond like he did, and I don't want to be left out in the dark!"

This made Yui pause. Her mouth twitched downward ever so slightly as she glanced to Nakai, a crease coming to her brow. _He saw, didn't he? That's just- that's not good. _She felt her heart starting to race. If Nakai had seen then surely he would get suspicious, wouldn't he? Yui couldn't help but start to worry. She didn't want her secret out so soon, if she even wanted it out to begin with. It had only been two hours and three sheets later when Yui had started to fade out. She remembered drawing a couple seashells from the beach her house was next to, some dolphins that often passed by in the ocean and her beloved characters from _Inherit the Sky. _How she went from scenery to animals to her characters was a mystery to her, but Yui had been to tired to care.

Yui mentally scolded herself for being so careless. If she hadn't of woken up when she did, Fukuda would've figured her out. Unless she would of been able to think of a lie right in the heat of the moment, something she had never been able to do. Not that she couldn't lie to being with; she just felt unbearably horrible when she did so. But it looked like she had to come up with something to tell Nakai anyway.

There were really only two options. One, she could tell them everything and ruin the plan she had spent days trying to figure out every step of the way. Or, second, more lies could be piled on top of her already complicated one about being Ches' assistant. Although, depending on how one looked at it, she wasn't really lying about _that_. She was her own editor, so in a way, that part of everything was true. She was only fibbing about the part of not being Ches. But there was no way Yui would admit that, not yet anyway. So option one was crossed off her mental list. Option two didn't seem all that bad, but, again, she didn't want to admit anything even semi-personal just yet._  
_

Luckily for her, though, Niizuma had picked a perfect time to arrive. All three of them turned to the door when he walked in, attention briefly shifting.

"Oh, everyone is here before me? Good morning, then! Nakai-san, I see you've met Ueda-san already."

Nakai awkwardly nodded, "yes, I did. She's a... A very talented young lady. It's nice to meet you, Ueda-san."

Yui's eye twitched but she held her tongue about him commenting about her _ITS_ drawing. The other two didn't seem to notice, thankfully. It looked like she would have to be having a talk with the older man after all. Hopefully she'd be able to trust him enough. _Way to go for another good impression, Ueda._

"Yes, you too, Nakai-san."

"Oh, and I forgot to ask you yesterday, Ueda-san," Niizuma had spoken up as he headed over to his desk, "will you participate in the Future Golden Cup this year?"

Fukuda's eyes widened slightly upon hearing this, seeming to have forgotten about the paper still stuffed down her shirt. "Crap, I forgot all about that- it's in two and a half months. The winner gets their work turned into a series and issued into _Jump_."

_The Future Golden Cup... Although I'd love to enter, I already have _ITS_. Besides, wouldn't that be cheating? That would not be fair. _Yui sighed lightly and smiled up at Niizuma, shaking her head, "no, I won't be."

Nakai seemed to be surprised, "is that so? I'm surprised. I'm even going to enter."

"Even though you've lost every contest in past what, ten years?" Fukuda commented, smirking slightly at Nakai's discomfort. This made Yui frown, but she said nothing.

"Ah, really? That's too bad, Ueda-san, I'm sure you'd do good."

_Niizuma, if only you knew-  
_

"I'm just glad that damned Ches is out of the picture, or I would've seriously whooped his ass this time!"

Yui froze. "Wh-what? Ches?"

Her stuttered question made Fukuda scoff, "you don't even know who Ches is? He's the one who submitted _Inherit the Sky_ and swept the rug underneath my feet. He's the one who has been pushing me down since I started submitting my work into _Jump_. Stupid little brat is going to get what's coming to him sooner or later. I hope _Inherit the Sky_ gets cancelled soon, that'd show him."

She couldn't believe what she was hearing. He was openly insulting her work in front of her, despite actually knowing she was the very person who had created it. It took some self control not to say anything, otherwise she would blow her cover. Then, something clicked; Yui knew his name sounded familiar when he introduced himself. _Fukuda's always been in the same contests and Cups as me. I've beaten him in every single one, even if neither of us were in the top three. And he... He hates Ches? He hates me, my work-_

"Come on, Fukuda, don't... Don't hate someone for beating you. The artwork in _ITS_ is beautiful and the story is well written," Nakai spoke slowly. He glanced at Yui and that split second was enough for Yui to know that Nakai knew. She had to give him credit for figuring it out so quickly, and just by seeing a sketch she had done while she was half asleep. Still, she hoped she could at least convince him that she was the assistant. But that would have to be done in private, away from Niizuma and Fukuda.

"Nakai-san is right, Fukuda-sensei. Think of him as a rival like Mashiro-sensei! Get motivation from it!"

"Even if the art is good and the story is decent, it doesn't change what's been happening. At least I can enter without worrying about it, even though I wasn't really in the first place."

"Not worried? You were enraged after finding out he got a series two days ago!"

"I know, I was there. And it did piss me the Hell off, but I wasn't worried. I'm confident enough in my skills not to let it bother me like that."

His sharp tone hinted that he didn't want to talk about the subject anymore, so Niizuma decided to take a different route.

"What about you, Ueda-san?"

"E-Eh?" Yui looked up at Niizuma, seeing him looking her direction. "What about me?"

"You've never heard about _Inherit the Sky _before? Personally, I liked it a lot."

Yui's heart fluttered upon hearing this. Niizuma liked her series? It was definitely more settling that hearing hate comments about it like Fukuda had been doing. But now all three sets of eyes were on her and she was starting to get nervous all over again. She didn't answer right away, instead thinking long and hard on what her answer should be. She considered this to be a good time to convince Nakai without actually talking to him.

"Oh- no, I've read it. I... I really liked it. I'm always drawing fanart of the two main characters."

"What a coincidence, so have I! But I haven't drawn fanart in a while, so I ended up throwing it away."

_So that's why they were crossed out._ Yui remembered the paper that was wadded up next to his desk. There were eraser shavings all over the place, indicating he kept trying to fix the details. He must have had a great distaste toward it to throw it away; Yui thought it was perfect, and not because he was drawing _her_ characters. It was in his style but the overall quality was nothing to be disappointing about. That aside, it looked like her little fib had convinced Nakai like she had wanted.

"So that's what you were hiding from me on that paper, isn't it? Fanart of_ ITS_?"

If Yui wasn't so nervous, she definitely wouldn't have cringed as much upon hearing the bitterness in Fukuda's voice. In fact, she was almost too afraid to look back at him. She could feel his eyes glaring into her back. With a deep breath she looked up at him, who was now seated at his desk. Nakai had stood up as well, offering a hand toward her. Hesitantly she accepted his offer and sat up, her back popping as she did so.

"Um... Actually," Yui reached into her shirt to pull out the piece of paper, not noticing Niizuma's confused expression. She unfolded it and presented it in front of her. Fukuda took one good, long look at her drawing, eyes slightly wide in shock and what Yui guessed to be anger. At first she instantly regretting doing so; _he knows. Oh, God, he's figured me out. He knows I'm Ches since my style is the same, and of course it's the same since _Inherit the Sky_ is mine, but they don't know that... Well he knows now!_

Instead of shouting, getting angry like Yui had been waiting for, Fukuda instead, started to laugh. The difference in reactions caused Yui's confusion to sky rocket. Even Niizuma and Nakai looked to be holding in laughter, as if not wanting to insult the poor woman.

"Wh-why are you laughing?" Yui flipped the page around to stare at her drawing, wondering if maybe it had been the wrong picture all this time, but once her eyes registered the drawing, it clicked.

They looked nothing like her two characters.

It was them, that she was certain, but the details were completely thrown off. The size of the male's head was too small while his shoulders were more broad than they should have been. His hands looked like sausages and they were bent rather oddly. And the female, her anatomy was not accurate in the least, either. Her breasts were flat, unlike the C cup they should have been. Her waist was far too thin to even look like a human; it looked as if she was a wooden board. Yui didn't even want to inspect the clothing, she could tell right away it was going to be bad. The demon didn't even had any clothes on! There was just a black censor bar where his privates were, along with a goofy looking face next to it. To sum this horrific piece up, it looked completely opposite to the fanart Niizuma had drawn. It was just that horrid.

Yui was obviously too exhausted to even care about proper anatomy or anything similar last night. But at that time the two had looked fine in her drooping eyes. _I can't believe this- I was worrying so much about whether or not they'd find out I was Ches but I just made a fool out of myself._

"You may be good at animals but you can't draw humans worth shit! Just look at the girl!"

"Fukuda-sensei, be polite, this might be Ueda-san's first fanart!"

But the silvernette was still laughing, clutching his side, "forget what I said earlier about the possibility about it being amazing! I don't know why I got myself worked up so much about it, it looks like a little kid drew it!"

Nakai had said nothing, still trying not to make fun of Yui's art. Before when Fukuda was shuffling through her late-night drawings, he was amazed how perfect her animal one's had been. It was just the last page that made his reaction change. Part of him felt shocked while the other was nervous of Fukuda was going to say about seeing that the two characters belonged to a mangaka he didn't like in the least. Now he just felt bad at his whole reaction; what if Yui was actually proud about how she did? If she had, her confidence would have shattered by this point.

So it was a good thing Yui was keeping a secret and did in fact know how to draw professionally.

"Ha, ha, yeah... You got me, okay? I didn't want you to see how bad it was," Yui had finally spoken up, surprising herself how smoothly her lie came out from her mouth. "You win, so stop laughing!"

Wadding up the drawing again, Yui chucked it at Fukuda. It hit the top of his head and bounced off, but Fukuda payed no mind to it. Instead his laughter started to die and he was left panting ever so slightly from lack of oxygen.

"Good thing Niizuma's the one to draw people, otherwise we'd be screwed. Looks like you'll be stuck with drawing the animals and shading them in, Ueda."

Yui puffed out her cheeks, "fine with me, meanie, just don't make fun of me anymore."

"If you won't draw crappy art like that again, I won't."

After the tension had settled, Fukuda and Nakai eventually got to work on _Crow_. Yui ended up watching them silently, though her mind was racing a mile a minute. _That was way too close. I have to be more prepared and think of better ways to deal with all this... But now that I know Fukuda has an extreme dislike for Ches- for me, I have to be more cautious with drawing Inherit the Sky from now on. _

_Things just got more complicated._

* * *

*Yokosuka is about an hour and seventeen minutes from Tokyo, but I just rounded up for this. Yui doesn't even live _in_ Yokosuka, but it's the closest major city from where she lives. I think- OTL.

Yup, I changed the whole freaking thing. It didn't make sense for her to stay the night if there was no work for her to do.

So I had to literally rewrite all of it in order to make sense.

Yeah. It was only slightly a pain in the ass. But at least it's over 3,000 words longer. Wow, that's a lot.

**Anyway, please review!** And if you see any errors at all, don't hesitate to tell me. I know I don't update as much as I should, but reading reviews always helps my inspiration go up even just a little.


	6. KOOGY Outbreak

Okay so the last chapter was completely redone, in case any of you missed it. I deleted the old chapter and replaced it with the recent one. I sense a lot of those kinds of edits in the future- OTL.

But, anyway, it's kind of hard because unlike the other anime's I'm writing fanfiction for, _Bakuman_ has a lot of dates and time skips and it's such a pain. I've actually written down some dates, what goes on during that time, and which chapters they're from just to make it a bit easier.

The previous chapter of this FanFiction is about a half a month after _Detective Trap_ is officially entered into the Future Golden Cup. That was June 22nd, so that means the last chapter was around July 6th or the 7th. June 22nd was also the date where Mashiro and Takagi ran into Nakai, who was seen with Aoki for the first time. Oh, and the manga doesn't actually say what date it is when Team Fukuda invades the _Jump_ office to complain about Koogy, but it's at least two weeks and a day after June 22nd. Since the last chapter was July 6th, it would mean the date was about July 7th. I am 98% sure that is correct. Ha, guess what's going to happen in this chapter?

If it isn't accurate, please tell me! I'll most likely write little notes like these about the dates in the author notes later on just to keep my mind intact.

AHHH SINCE THERE ARE A LOT OF LITTLE TIMESKIPS UNTIL THE GOLD FUTURE CUP ENDS, THERE'S GOING TO BE A LOT OF TIMESKIPS IN HERE, TOO. I'M SORRY IF THAT BOTHERS YOU BUT I DON'T WANT IT TO BE DRAWN OUT _TOO_ MUCH.

Wow this author's note is long, so review replies will be at the end of this chapter C:.

**I only own my character Yui Ueda, her manga plot, and this story's plot. I do not own anything that is related to Bakuman.**

* * *

_July 7__th__– _

After working in Niizuma's studio with Fukuda and Nakai for the majority of the day, Yui was finally able to go home. She had collapsed on her bed as soon as she was in her room, and soon she was out like a light. Once she woke up, it was already morning; she had slept the evening and night away. The sun was high in the sky, its rays shining through her thin curtains and streaming onto her wooden floor. Yui was now waking up from the sudden light, eyes scrunched and feeling heavy. She found herself curled up in the middle of her bed, on top of the sheets holding her sheep plushie.

_I must have passed out when I got home,_ Yui thought to herself, rubbing her eyes lazily. _It's already morning, isn't it?_

Yui bolted upright immediately. "It's morning?!"

She had not expected to fall asleep so quickly. The only reason she had collapsed on her bed was to rest her feet; she had no intention of going to bed right when getting home. Working on ITS was her top priority since she would have less time with it.

_Even though I don't have to submit a chapter in for another two weeks-_ Yui groaned and ran a hand down her face. "Rest is important," she said to herself, plopping back down and snuggling into her blankets. Not a second later Yui sat up again, throwing her legs off the edge of the bed.

"No! I might of submitted two chapters instead of one this week, but I need to use this time as an advantage! "

Instead of the usual nineteen pages every week or two, Yui had decided to do an extra twenty for her next chapter. This way she'd always be a step ahead. Resting was indeed important, since if she didn't get enough then _Inherit the Sky _wouldn't be drawn to full potential. But at the same time, too much of it led to less time working on her manga. She couldn't slip up, not now while she worked as an assistant.

Back popping, Yui stood and went over to her window. She opened the curtains to a bright and sunny day, the sun's reflection glistening off of the ocean's waves. There were many clouds in the sky, leading Yui to guess a possibility of rain. She made a mental note to wear something warmer than her usual tank top if she were to go out.

After taking a shower and dressing in a long-sleeved shirt with the same white jeans she wore yesterday, Yui made her way to her desk. Her laptop rested in front of her, fully loaded and displaying her _Bleach _screensaver since she had turned in on before making her way to her bathroom. Before anything, Yui would always check her email for any unread messages. Even though most of her inbox consisted of subscriptions, occasionally work-related emails would be there. Some news would sneak its way in as well, though most were sent to the spam folder.

Yui wasn't expecting what she saw to be in her inbox. There was only on unread email, about one of her admired musicians: KOOGY. It was a tweet he had made late last night. She had made a Twitter just to follow him and a couple others of her favorite artists, mangaka, actors, and anime companies, if they had one. It was just a better way to know what was going on than to search the internet for any news. Depending on the person she was following, an email and or text would be sent to her whenever they made a new post.

"KOOGY is…" Yui had to reread the content several times, "he's writing a _manga_?"

_Why is KOOGY writing a manga all of a sudden? I understand maybe wanting to expand and find your other talents, but… He's doing just fine as a musician!_

Suddenly Yui felt anger seeping in with her shock the further she continued to read the article linked into her email. _He even tells everyone to wish him luck. But, this- why?! He has millions of fans that love his music, including me! He's going to get more votes than everyone in the Golden Future Cup put together!_

"No, I shouldn't be mad at this," Yui took a deep breath, "it's his life; he can do what he wants, whether that's music or manga."

Attempting to calm herself down didn't seem to be working so far. Yui couldn't get the negative feeling in her gut to wither. KOOGY was participating in the Golden Future Cup, with a manga entitled _Colorfusical_. At first read, Yui thought she was going to be excited since she was a fan of the man and seeing him express himself differently would be a thrill to see. It turned out that her reaction was completely different, however, and Yui tried to understand why. She understood expanding talents, finding another hobby, trying out new things and the lot, but KOOGY had not of mentioned manga before during his career. He had said in an interview that he read them frequently and had a small collection, but nothing relative of being interested in _creating_ it.

"No, no! This isn't- it's not fair! Not at all!" The strawberry blond was pacing now, hands going through her damp hair in frustration. "It's cheating, using his fans to his advantage like that!"

Before thinking about it, Yui had slammed her laptop shut. She headed over to her nightstand at the foot of her bed to grab her cellphone, wallet, and house keys. Her hair was tied into a tight ponytail and a random kerchief was grabbed from her closet. She was out her front door after putting on her shoes, running in the direction of the train station that was no more than fifteen minutes away. It looked as if _Inherit the Sky_ was going to be put off for the time being, which was perfectly fine for her at the moment; it wasn't even on her mind.

The article had thrown Yui off, to put it simply. It was a huge surprise to wake up to. But Yui was more than shocked and appalled at the ordeal.

She was _pissed._

* * *

Jump's editorial office was towering over her now tauntingly, as if daring her to go inside. Yui had been standing outside the front doors for what seemed like forever. She was trying to think of a way to go about this; complaining about KOOGY to all the editors in the office. It hadn't processed exactly what she wanted to say, as she had left her apartment without stopping to do so. Her emotions had clouded her actions and it was something she had been trying to control since she was little.

But there was no time for that now. It was time to strut inside and voice her opinion; this she had always been good at no matter what the situation. After taking a deep breath, the female stepped inside and headed over to the front desk.

"May I help you?" An older woman was behind the desk this time, black hair straight and falling delicately over her shoulders. She spoke politely, though Yui could detect a hint of stress behind her tone.

"Good evening," Yui did her best not to sound angry toward her, "I'd like to see Hattori Yujiro right away, please. My name is Ueda Yui." _Even though I should ask for the editor in chief, things will go better if I talked to Yujiro first. If all the editors know what I'm going in for, they might not want to see me._

For a moment she thought her request would be denied, given that she was now being stared at. Sweat tickled at her brow and she went to open her mouth to give the woman reasoning. Before Yui could do so, a response was given.

"Very well, please sign here as I give him a call."

Yui let out a relieved sigh.

The secretary patted a clipboard that was on the counter and off to the side, various signatures and dates scribbled on some lines. Yui nodded and took the pen sitting on the clipboard, signing her name and date to record the 'appointment'. That's when a certain name had caught her eye, one that was signed right above hers. Fukuda's last name and first was written neatly on the line above hers, along with the day's date. This made Yui's brow rise. _July seventh… Is Fukuda-san is here right now?_

"Miss Ueda? You may proceed upstairs."

Snapping out of her thoughts, Yui looked back up at the woman, who was looking at her with a strange expression once again. A blush of embarrassment reached Yui's cheeks and she bowed slightly, giving thanks as she headed to the elevator.

Upstairs in the main office, Team Fukuda had just entered, Fukuda being ahead of the group. It had been at least a minute after Yujiro had received a call that Yui was requesting to see him. Even though he was glad to be seeing her again so soon, it was rather odd. Last time it had been a mistake but now the young girl was willing to set up an appointment with him? Something didn't seem right, not in Yujiro's head.

When the doors opened, he expected to see flecks of orange-tinted hair, but what he actually saw was silver. Instead of a polite young lady, it was a rash young man that stressed Yujiro out to no end. There were three other men tailing Fukuda; Nakai, Takagi, and Mashiro, respectfully.

"Excuse us! Good evening," he heard Fukuda's bold voice first, and immediately cringed. _This isn't the voice of an angel… It's the complete opposite!_

All of the editors had stopped in their tasks to look over towards the males. Some of them knew why they were there. The news on KOOGY travelled fast, given he was a musician now attempting to write a manga. It was predicted something like this would happen; Yujiro was thinking about their reactions before Team Fukuda's intrusion and the call from Yui. The response he was concerned the most about was indeed Fukuda; the man had a reputation for being passionate, in both the positive and negative sense. Things wouldn't end well if the situation wasn't taken care of correctly.

How to handle said situation, however, was a completely different story.

And before thinking about how to go about it, Yujiro had thrown himself in front of Fukuda, arms spread apart. "W-Wait! Fukuda, stop!"

The silvernette frowned disapprovingly, "You're out of the question, Yujiro. We need to at least talk to Mr. Aida."

"Don't be ridiculous," the older man pointed to himself with a thumb, "you're going to talk to me."

Despite rolling his eyes, Fukuda didn't disobey Yujiro's words. Instead he held up a newspaper that seemed to come from nowhere, pointing to the article that revealed KOOGY's new project. The content was the same as what Yui had read, and Fukuda was just as unhappy about the ordeal as she.

"This is cheating, isn't it?" he held bitterness in his tone that Yujiro heard often from the young mangaka. His dark eyes traveled up the newspaper, and when he recognized KOOGY's picture, he couldn't help but sigh.

"I knew it was going to be about that…"

Whispers and murmurs were being heard around the studio now, standing aside complete and utter silence. Everyone, even the other three of Team Fukuda was afraid to speak first. Nakai and Takagi simply kept silent on everyone else's behalf; they knew Fukuda would be able to speak for them. He was doing a good job of it so far. All of them had willingly gone with him to the office; they were all on the same boat, after all. Mashiro, on the other hand, was thinking of something directed toward Hattori Akira. He was staring at him while doing so, silently questioning what he should do.

That's when the silence broke, but it wasn't a voice of either side. The door to the office had opened, and Yui had finally stepped inside. When she saw that Fukuda was indeed here, however, she blanched; everyone was looking at her. It was as if a spot light had shined down to announce her appearance in a play. _This is not how I wanted to go about this…_

Fukuda and Nakai she had recognized off the bat, but the two younger boys weren't registering. She blinked and tilted her head, about to open her mouth, only to be interrupted for the second time that morning.

"Yo, Ueda, are you here about that damned KOOGY, too?"

Her eyes met with Fukuda's then, before she started to regain her composure. He seemed to be surprised to see her there just as much as Yujiro and the others, however it was gone as quickly as it had appeared. Yui took a moment to answer, words trying to form into sentences in her head.

"You're right, I am. Seeing an article about it online was what caused me to come here," she answered him calmly, walking further into the studio. "I think it's completely unfair."

As Yui came to stand next to him and Mashiro, Fukuda seemed to like her answer. He didn't acknowledge it silently and turned back to look at his editor straight in the eye, focusing all the attention back on him again.

"That's exactly why this is cheating. This is a guy who's always ranked in the top three with CD and ring tone downloads whenever he releases a song, so I'm sure he's gonna get tons of votes with this sudden mangaka crap!"

Yujiro was quick to come with a reply, "but he's taking a break from that to concentrate on creating manga, so I don't think it's unfair. His fans might want him to stop creating manga and return back to making music! If his manga isn't good enough, he's going to end up as a laughing-stock, so he's prepared to face the consequences!"

"Of course that won't happen in his head," Yui interjected, "it doesn't matter if the manga is a hit or not, chances are that his fans are going to vote for him any because they're his fans. He's using them to his advantage to cheat his way into winning. This isn't fair for the rest of the mangaka in the Cup who have been working harder than him for a longer period of time."

Yujiro was at a loss for a split second, "even so-"

"Even so my ass! Why does he have to make it public now?! It's obviously to get votes from fans, isn't it? Adding to what Ueda said, he even wrote 'thank you for your support,' and it says in the article that he's asking everybody to support his manga whenever he's on a music show. "

"Mangaka like us don't have that advantage," Yui spoke again, though more quietly this time. She didn't want Yujiro to feel double teamed on this; he was only an editor, not even related to KOOGY's work.

Fukuda acknowledged her comment, "he's naturally going to get a lot of votes, just like how a TV celebrity will get votes when they run for office."

What Yujiro said next made Yui grit her teeth and narrow her eyes.

"…Even if things turn out like that, the manga business is centered on popularity…"

_Don't say what I think you're going to say, Yujiro-san-_

"The most popular guy will naturally win..."

Fukuda twitched at his answer, suddenly dropping the newspaper so he could grab the front of Yujiro's shirt. The older man widened his eyes as Fukuda started yelling at him, face inches away from his. Both Yui and Nakai had tried to pry the men apart.

"No Violence!" Nakai shouted, though he didn't make a move to physically remove Fukuda's fists. Instead he tried to talk it out, something that didn't work very often, especially when it came to a man like Fukuda. He had a habit of rushing into things with a clouded head, much like how Yui dealt with things.

"Fukuda is right! We're supposed to competing over the contents of our manga. I'm staking my life on the work I'm currently doing. I just can't accept this!"

Yui tried looking at the three men at once, hands firmly around Fukuda's wrists and Yujiro's chest. "The Gold Future Cup is supposed to be a chance for someone to gain fame, not for people who are already famous! Just because KOOGY is a successful musician doesn't mean he can just destroy the chances of other's winning!"

It was Aida's turn to speak, his voice drowning out everyone else's, "if you don't like it, you can always blow out! The entries haven't even been announced yet… There are tons of artists to take your place!"

Fukuda had finally let go of Yujiro and turned his attention to the older man, the one he wanted to see in the beginning. The screaming and yelling was escalating now, mostly on Fukuda's part. She did agree with all of what Fukuda was saying, but at the same time Yujiro and the editors had a point as well. It was indeed unfair for KOOGY to suddenly start a manga on his peak of fame; it ruined everyone else's chances of winning since their names were barely thrown out into the world. _No, it doesn't ruin anything… It just reduces everyone's chances of winning the Cup._

"–Are you really sure you want the three of us to step down?! Are you even gonna hold the _Gold Future Cup_ if that happens?!"

_That's just a fluke. _Jump_ wouldn't want them to step out of the Cup. They're the best mangaka to pick for it._

"Fukuda, we just need to win," Yui heard a foreign voice behind her. It was one of the two she didn't know, who was finally speaking after observing the whole thing. His words threw Fukuda off, and he was now looking back at him.

"We just need to defeat him with the content of our manga."

Yui listened intently. Whoever this boy was, he was right. They needed to show KOOGY that they weren't going to back down from the threat of him. But was he really a threat? None of them would know until _Colorfusical_ would be run in _Jump_.

"Our manga will be better. That's all that counts," he finished, a bit flushed in the face. Yui couldn't help but smile. Her confidence for the group was high all of a sudden; Mashiro's words had inspired her.

Then, just like that, Fukuda's anger streak was gone as if it hadn't existed in the first place. Everyone was shocked, including Yui, to see such a change in demeanor within the man. He had been so aggressive before, but now he had settled down. _He's really something;_ Yui thought to herself, _able to keep himself under control like that, I'm… I'm jealous._

"Okay! Let's show each other our storyboards!" Fukuda had hopped off of the desk he was using, taking out his cellphone as he landed on the ground. "We'll talk over our work so we can improve it like we did with chapter five of _Crow_."

_Oh,_ Yui looked back at the blue-haired boy, _is this Mashiro? He's the artist of Money and Intelligence?_ She looked at the blonde next to him then, who was focused on what Fukuda had been saying. _Then this must be Takagi, the writer… I didn't expect them to be so young, the way Fukuda-san described them…_

"Fukuda, Aoki-san can come too, can't she?"

"Of course."

Hearing this, Yui perked up and looked back at where Nakai and Fukuda were standing, cell phones in hand. _Aoki? Aoki Ko? She's the writer of _Hideout Door_! I have to meet her- finally, a female mangaka! Well… She isn't a mangaka, she writes the story, but still! _Yui's eyes shined. Even though _Hideout Door_ didn't sound like the type of manga she would read or buy, hearing Aoki's name intrigued her. Nakai had talked a bit about it yesterday while they worked on _Crow_. One of the reasons for her penname, Ches, was to hide her identity. It looked to be working, too, since Fukuda had referred to Ches as male when talking about the _Gold Future Cup _for the first time. The reason for this reason was because Yui's aunt had a female friend that was judged for writing shonen manga. Yui was afraid for this to happen, but after Nakai talked about her, it made Yui anxious. Maybe there was hope for female mangaka after all.

"Yo, Ueda, are you coming with us?"

Coming out of her daydream, Yui stared at Fukuda dumbly. _He wants me to come with them? Of course I would normally say yes, but since I'm not in the Cup, there's really no reason for me to. But I have a chance to meet Aoki-san, so there's a reason._

Despite wanting to say yes, she still had to question Fukuda's reasoning, "Why?"

He pocketed his cellphone, turning to look at her, "even though you're just an assistant, it would still be helpful for an extra pair of eyes. You don't have a mangaka's eye; you can act as a regular person reading _Jump. _Maybe you'll even learn something since you can't draw humans worth crap."

_He has a point, but- hey! _Yui frowned slightly, _its times like these where I want to prove your ass wrong, but I don't for good reason!_

"Fine, but I'm sitting next to Aoki-san."

"Fine by me."

After Mashiro and Takagi had retrieved their storyboards for _Detective Trap_, Team Fukuda (plus Yui) had left the office, allowing the editors to finally breath.

* * *

Aoki was not the person Yui expected her to be. To put it simply, Yui saw her as a rude and disrespectful young woman. When it came down to reviewing everyone's story boards, even though her voice was polite-sounding, she had immediately declined doing so. Yui had to bite her own tongue in order to prevent commenting on how unnecessary Aoki's answer was. _If she didn't want to go over their storyboards, then why did she come here?_

In truth, Yui was disappointed. She had expected someone nice and generous; not cold-hearted or cheeky. But there had to be a reason for it. Something didn't seem right for a woman like her to be writing such a shoujo-like manga like _Hideout Door._

Yui was glad she hadn't of sat next to Aoki after all; Nakai had beaten her to it once everyone had entered the break room of Niizuma's studio. Instead she was sitting on the floor between Fukuda and Nakai, elbows on the small table. She sat on her legs the majority of the time, playing with the white kerchief that was securely covering her head. When they rotated storyboards, she would get up to pass it over to Fukuda, leaning over his shoulder to read with him. Little did she know that it make him uncomfortable with her being so close; he couldn't concentrate on reading the storyboards as well as he liked to.

But Fukuda had agreed with Aoki after all; they all had thought their work was the best, so discussing wouldn't get anyone anywhere. Yui thought that was a fair choice. If she was entering the Cup with her own manga, she would feel the same way.

"Niizuma and Ueda have read all three of our works anyway, and are the most neutral people here right now."

Five sets of eyes glanced back and forth from Niizuma to Ueda, and then reversed the order. Niizuma and Yui glanced at one another. He didn't seem to be feeling any pressure, but being in the spotlight again was troublesome for Yui. Her shyness didn't help the sudden attention in the slightest. So, as if to ease herself down, she allowed Niiuzma to voice his opinion first.

He didn't miss a beat, "they were all fantastic."

Mashiro didn't like his answer. Praising all of their work wasn't the right way to critique; they needed more than that. "Don't say they were all good. Which did you like the most among these three, Niizuma?"

There was a pregnant pause.

"…Violence, suspicion, fantasy. They were all totally different, but if I was going to rank them…"

Nakai had cut Niizuma off, "w-wait a minute! I have a feeling that the actual results will turn out to be exactly the same as Niizuma-sensei will say…"

Nakai's words were considered but disregarded as the other three leaned in towards the young genius, all saying they had confidence in their work. Yui stayed where she was, simply shifting her seating position to sit crisscross.

"I can say it then, right? I know which one is third place but the other two are tied with first place."

His response wasn't what they wanted to hear. Mashiro and Takagi glanced at each other while Nakai let out a nervous sigh. Yui thought about it and quickly had matched which works held the three ranks. _Third place has to be _Hideout Door. _It wasn't bad; just fairly different from the rest… _

"Ueda-san, I'd like to hear your opinion now."

"Ah," Yui recoiled when everyone looked back to her, "I, well… I won't tell exactly which is which, either, since it wouldn't really be fair…"

"Please don't hesitate in fear of hurting our feelings, Ueda-san," Aoki spoke up. It was the first full sentence she had spoken to Yui since introductions were made. Although there weren't really any true 'introductions,' as Aoki simply said her name and started to get to business. It was a shame; Yui wanted to have some conversations with her. Takagi and Mashiro had been polite enough for proper greetings, though, and it turned out she was right in thinking they were the creators of _Money and Intelligence._ They were even still in school! It amazed Yui how hard they work and how passionate they were going about it.

Both girls shared a long glance.

_Of course I liked _Kiyoshi Knight_ better than the others… But that's my personal preference. I like violent manga, especially if there are supernatural creatures like demons in the plot. Even though _Kiyoshi_ doesn't have any, the main character pretty much acts like one. I have to look at this on a grand scale, not just about what I like… I have to think about the works in general._

Yui finally broke the connection with Aoki and looked back at the group, "I agree with Niizuma in the sense that all of them are fantastic in their own way. If we were talking about which one's we personally liked, then I would say _Kiyoshi Knight_."

Fukuda raised a brow, "so mine is at the top of your list?"

"What, not happy? I thought you would be," she teased, making Fukuda frown. He went to say something back at Yui but she stopped him, a wry smile coming to her lips. "I'm saying on a _personal_ level. I like violent manga, but we aren't talking about personal preference. Ranking them overall, my results also have two of them at a tie."

"Can't you both just pick one?"

Niizuma pursed his lips, "my two are at exactly the same rank inside me."

A heavy sigh and Fukuda rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, at least _Kiyoshi_ is at the top of _someone's_ list. That's good enough for me."

Yui fought a blush. _Maybe… I shouldn't have said that. I have a feeling he's going to hang that over my head now._

Aoki watched the two, eyebrows raised. Both of them looked a bit flustered, with Yui's blushing and Fukuda's flattered demeanor. Didn't Nakai say she was Niizuma's third editor? The two seemed rather close just from knowing each other for a short while, at least in her eyes. They looked to be comfortable with toward on another despite this. _Maybe they-_

"May I ask a question?"

"Go for it," Fukuda was the one to answer Aoki, still leaned back in his cushioned chair.

The woman's hesitation piped Yui's curiosity. She was so bold and confident before, Yui wondered what was going through her head.

"Are you two," she gestured between Fukuda and Yui, who glanced at each other. Yui was beginning to catch on what Aoki was hinting at, her heart practically stopping at the realization.

Fukuda was growing impatient with her uneasiness, but he also found it odd. "What is it?"

Nakai tried to ease his partner's nervousness, "what's the matter, Miss Aoki? You can say it, I know you can~."

Taking a deep breath, the nervous façade had vanished and her cool, confident one was put back in place.

"Ueda-san, Fukuda-san, are you both lovers?"

* * *

You all know what happens with the KOOGY incident and when they all review their chapters, so I tried skipping some dialogue because of that. Mental note: these events happened in chapter 30 and 31.

AOKI YOU AREN'T SUPPOSED TO ASK THOSE TYPES OF QUESTIONS IN PUBLIC LIKE THAT. IT'S EMBARRASSING.

I feel like this chapter's vibe is all out of wack and wayyyy less details than the others. Probably because I added more canon scenes than the one's I actually made up. OH, and that little picture for the story is a chibi drawing I did of Yui. I don't know if you can see her, though. I'll have to draw another one in a different color.

**Ryu Sayuri**: I get an email whenever someone reviews my stories and it shows up right away on my iPhone, so I saw it as soon as you sent it in :D. If I do have any questions about Japan's culture I'll be sure to ask you, since I'm always looking up little things on the Internet. I actually had some hesitation on whether or not they should sleep in the same room, but in Japan it's kind of improper if they aren't together, right? When Iwase was alone with Niizuma in his studio it sure implied that. But I'm glad the updated chapter was more exciting for you since the previous one was a bit bland and boring. Psh, don't worry, there will be more scenes like that in the near future ;D. They might not become a couple for a while, but there's definitely going to be some fluff and stuff before that happens! I'm just not... Sure when… Yet OTL. Thank you so much for the kind words!

**RAINRAIN9 & Lady Kebechet**: Thank you! Here's the next chapter wooo~.

**Please review** and if you spot any errors, even little ones, don't hesitate to tell me! It can be in a review or a PM so it's private, whichever is easier.


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